Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture

• Lack of a management plan (issue resolved)
• Governance
• Lack of coordinated conservation policies and interventions between the national government and local stakeholders
• Impacts of tourism / visitor / recreation
• Legal framework
• Management systems/ management plan
• Urban high rise/ urban sprawl
• Lack of conservation policy

Total amount granted: USD 870,000 for the project “Preservation and Conservation of Tiwanaku and the Akapana Pyramid” (UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust for World Heritage)

On 19 December 2017, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/567/documents/. Moreover, the complete version of the Management Plan in Spanish was received on 13 February 2018. In the report, the State Party addresses the following:

• The Management Plan is the result of coordinated efforts between the Archaeological, Anthropological and Administrative Research Centre of Tiwanaku (CIAAAT) and the Ministry of Cultures and Tourism under the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust (JFIT) project “Preservation and conservation of Tiwanaku and the Akapana Pyramid”. The Plan comprises eight chapters: Management and Administration, Conservation, Investigation, Tourism, Education and Cultural Action, Museology and Museography, Risks and Forecast of Disasters, and Communication;
• Due to its complexity, the Integral Conservation Plan (ICP) is still under development and is expected to be finalized by end of 2018;
• The property as inscribed on the World Heritage List consists of three components surrounded by a 100 meter wide buffer zone. The Management Plan now proposes the definition of five protection areas: the Intensive Area (the central area of the town of Tiwanaku with the church and two blocks around it), the Extensive Area (the remaining part of the urban zone of the town), the Protection Area (areas that deserve special conservation treatment such as the Green Lagoon), the Archaeological Area (the actual World Heritage property) and the Buffer Zone or the 100-metre zone. It is specified that the buffer zone is managed by the CIAAAT and the Municipality of Tiwanaku for the urban zones, whilst the rural zone is regulated by the Council of Ayllus and Originating Communities of Tiwanaku (CACOT), a social entity representative of the local inhabitants, also in coordination with the Municipality. The above implies an extension of the buffer zone to include the urban areas of the town. The State Party emphasizes that, in order to respond to the urban growth towards the property, the overall protection of the property requires the adoption of specific regulations for the urban areas and buffer zone by the Municipality of Tiwanaku. A small area adjacent to Puma Punku is part of the urban zone, but under the authority of the local communities and cannot be used for agriculture or housing;
• Finally, the State Party reports that CIAAAT has established a conservation laboratory at the site with a focus on the movable objects in the museum collection and storage spaces. Preventive and conservation interventions in the archaeological zones are being prepared with other institutions.

The elaboration and submission of a comprehensive Management Plan for the property should be commended. ICOMOS’ comments on the Management Plan are as follows:

• The planning process was, for the first time, based on the participation of 23 communities and three villages that belong to the Tiwanaku municipality. This sustains significantly the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the site. In addition, municipal authorities, artisan groups, hotel managers, tourism guides, and neighbourhood councils, amongst others, participated in the process;
• The document compiles all past archaeological diagnoses and research. Several “Memory Workshops” were held with the communities that worked on earlier excavations;
• The Management Plan extends beyond the property limits, including the urban area of Tiwanaku, signifying an important advancement in regulating developments adjacent to the archaeological zone;
• The results of specific studies on Conservation, Education, Museums and Collections, Tourism, and Risk Management and Disaster Prevention, amongst others, are incorporated as programmes of the Management Plan;
• The document has project charts for each programme, outlining deadlines and the entities responsible.

In order to complement and complete the Management Plan it is recommended to:

• Complete the conservation programme;
• Establish tourism and risk management committees;
• Develop a Museums and Collections programme taking into account the plan of the Ministry of Cultures and Tourism to construct a new site museum, which is not sufficiently addressed in the document;
• Recruit a professional preservationist within the CIAAAT’s organic structure as a permanent staff.

Considering the additional factors that influence the proper management and conservation of the property, it is also recommended that the State Party:

• Establishes its actions and priorities for research and excavations towards the optimal maintenance of the property's Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). These should be clearly defined in the Integral Conservation Plan;
• Finalize the Integral Conservation Plan which should be of the highest priority and submit it to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
• Ensure a close coordination of the actions at the local level through a reinforced involvement of the Ministry of Cultures and Tourism. This coordination should enable the CIAAAT to implement the required actions for the effective management of the property;
• Continue and strengthen the participation of and communication with local communities and authorities; encourage further efforts to improve awareness-raising campaigns among the inhabitants of the surrounding rural zones to guarantee that land uses are aligned with the maintenance of the property's OUV;
• Initiate a process to review the boundaries of the property and buffer zones on the basis of the detailed cartography of more than 400 hectares that is now available;
• Work with the local authorities of Tiwanaku to draw up the regulations for the urban buffer zone and formalise the buffer zone extension proposal, according to the required national and local processes. Following the formal approval, the proposal should be presented to the World Heritage Centre in accordance with Paragraph 164 of the Operational Guidelines concerning Minor Boundary Modification, for adoption by the World Heritage Committee.