Decision 42 COM 7A.41

East Rennell (Solomon Islands) (N 854)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7A.Add2,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7A.19, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Regrets that the State Party did not submit a report on the state of conservation of the property, as requested by the Committee;
4. Notes with utmost concern the letter submitted to the World Heritage Centre by the Tuhunui Tribe of East Rennell, raising serious concerns on the practical modalities of customary ownership, management and decision-making, and expressing their wish to “withdraw all its customary land from the World Heritage Program Site in East Rennell” in light of their concern that they are not benefiting from its World Heritage status, and their opposition to the property being declared under the Protected Area Act 2010;
5. Considers that the long term conservation of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value can only be secured with the full consent of the customary land owners and land users in full respect of their rights;
6. Also considers that the development of sustainable livelihoods for the local communities is of utmost importance, requests the State Party to seek technical and financial support to address this issue and calls upon the international community to support the State Party with this effort;
7. Also requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property:
   1. to facilitate a dialogue between and amongst different stakeholders/communities and to evaluate how the concerns expressed by the customary land owners can be addressed, whilst fully respecting their right to self-determination,
   2. to provide advice to the State Party regarding possible measures which can be implemented in order to achieve the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR), in close consultation with local communities and customary land owners,
   3. to assess the current state of conservation of the property and the progress achieved towards combatting threats identified in previous state of conservation reports, including invasive species, bauxite mining and logging;
8. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2019, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 43rd session in 2019;
9. Decides to retain East Rennell (Solomon Islands) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.