Kathmandu Valley

• Earthquake (Severe earthquake of 25 April 2015)
• Housing (Uncontrolled urban development resulting in the loss of traditional urban fabric, in particular privately-owned houses)
• Management systems/management plan (Lack of a coordinated management mechanism)
• Ground transport infrastructure (Construction of a forest road)
• Underground transport infrastructure (Project for tunnel road in Pashupati Monument Zone)
• Air transport infrastructure (Project for the extension of the Kathmandu International Airport)
• Services Infrastructures (Water Infrastructure/ Wastewater Management Project of Patan Durbar Square Monument Zone Sewer Project)

Total amount granted: USD 10 million (1979-2001) from the International Safeguarding Campaign launched by UNESCO; USD 45,000 (2005) and USD 20,000 (2011) from UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust. Several UNESCO extra-budgetary projects have been approved since 2015 for the emergency safeguarding, conservation and rehabilitation process of the Kathmandu Valley after the 2015 earthquake. They include USD 1 million from the Chinese Hainan Airlines Group (Cihang Foundation), USD 250,000 from the Hong Kong based Fok Foundation, USD 145,000 from the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust, USD 100,000 from the Nepal Investment Bank, USD 41,804 from French Oriental Cultural Heritage Sites Protection Alliance and USD 30,000 from voluntary contributions to the World Heritage Fund by the Republic of Korea.

On 31 January 2024, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/121/documents/ and provides the following information:

• Following the establishment of the International Scientific Committee for Kathmandu Valley (ISC-KV), required activities for the property have been identified as: (1) post-earthquake recovery and lessons learned, (2) improved management, and (3) capacity building and training. The ISC-KV is facilitating values-based conservation management planning;
• Support from the international community and the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu is welcome, and further assistance is sought for capacity building and training, use of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), procedures for the protection of urban housing and ancient settlements, values-based conservation and management planning and socio-economic revitalisation;
• Most of the conservation and restoration work for earthquake-damaged monuments within the property’s seven Protected Monument Zones, has been completed, including Hanuman Dhoka Palace. A tabular summary of post-earthquake conservation status presents completed, ongoing, and remaining works;
• At the recommendation of the ISC-KV, a final ‘Recovery Plan: Remaining Activities Report’ is in preparation, and a ‘Post-disaster Recovery: Lessons Learned Report’ will also be prepared;
• The Integrated Management Framework (IMF) has yet to be reviewed; the version submitted with the report is dated 2021;
• The following sector strategies will be prepared: Heritage Conservation Management Plan (including cyclical maintenance), Urban Planning, Subsurface Archaeology, Community and Sustainable Development, Disaster Risk Management, and Visitor Management;
• A new Master Plan for Pashupati Protected Monument Zone was developed by an expert committee and has been adopted. Once translated from Nepali into English, it will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre;
• Responses are provided to the main recommendations of the 2019 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission;
• The State Party is committed to recovering urban and ancient settlements within the property. However, the loss of traditional housing remains an issue, as protecting living heritage and private housing presents challenges;
• Uncontrolled development in the monument and buffer zones is being addressed through the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Property Coordinative Working Committee, focusing on minimising the impact of new urban infrastructure;
• The Government of Nepal has adopted Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) procedures. Development works either accord with the IMF or are subject to HIAs;
• The State Party will keep the World Heritage Centre informed about the proposed expansion of the Ring Road at Swayambhu;
• The annexes of the report provide revised documentation for the Patan Durbar Square Monument Zone sewer project.

Following the devastating Gorkha earthquake in 2015, progress has been made towards recovery, restoration and reconstruction efforts critical to preserving the integrity, authenticity, and attributes that support the property's Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The formation of the ISC-KV has played a pivotal role, with its recommendations and those from Reactive Monitoring missions significantly contributing to long-term recovery and preservation efforts. The State Party has addressed a wide array of recommendations put forward by the 2019 Reactive Monitoring mission and during the inaugural meeting of the ISC-KV, highlighting its role in guiding the recovery, conservation, and management of the property. The State Party should continue to provide the Committee with detailed updates on the implementation of the ISC-KV’s recommendations. Furthermore, in response to the State Party’s requests, the Committee may wish to encourage the international community to provide further resources to ensure the participation of international experts within the ISC-KV framework.

As previously noted, the property's authenticity has been adversely affected by the introduction of new materials and the reconstruction of some buildings based on conjecture rather than scientific evidence. However, despite challenges, much of the essential conservation and restoration work on monuments within the Protected Monument Zones that suffered damage due to the earthquake has been completed. The development of sector strategies to support the ongoing conservation and management of the property is underway, and the ISC-KV’s review will be essential to ensure that these strategies comprehensively address the enduring threats to the property.

The “Recovery Plan: Remaining Activities Report” is anticipated to address residual challenges, including the overlooked aspects of urban and ancient settlements, the erosion of traditional housing, and the adverse impacts of unsympathetic development and new urban infrastructure. This Report should be in line with the UNESCO 2011 HUL Recommendation and encapsulate a socio-economic revitalisation programme targeting urban communities, as per Decision 45 COM 7B.45.

The IMF from 2021 —which was re-submitted as a draft without updates or revisions— and the adoption of the new Master Plan for the Pashupati Monument Zone —adopted without undergoing the technical review requested by the Committee and still pending submission in a working language of the Committee— underscores the imperative need for these critical documents to be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies prior to their implementation.

Furthermore, the State Party should be reminded of the necessity to submit comprehensive details of major projects, including HIAs, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before any decision is made that would be difficult to reverse, in line with Paragraphs 118bis and 172 of the Operational Guidelines. The Patan Durbar Square Monument Zone sewer project was implemented without demonstrating how feedback from the ICOMOS Technical Review was incorporated. Although the State Party considers that its heritage impacts are only temporary, it warrants the submission of a detailed report on archaeological findings and monitoring upon the project's completion.

The Committee may wish to reiterate its call for a revision of the draft procedures for HIAs in Nepal, urging the State Party to align them with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context. The revised draft should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for a review by the Advisory Bodies, to ensure that future projects do not negatively impact World Heritage properties in Nepal.