The Bureau recalled that the Committee, at its last session, was informed of the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew which affected extensive areas of this World Heritage site on 24 August 1992. The Bureau noted that the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew has had a wide range of impacts on the ecology of Everglades and that the site has been entered on the "Montreux Record", the equivalent of a 'danger list' under the Ramsar Convention. The Representative of IUCN informed the Bureau that conservation problems of the Everglades have been covered extensively in the literature and that a ...
Sites: Everglades National Park
ICOMOS reported on the extremely negative visual impact of a new sports hall built on the western slope of the hill that is crowned by the Cathedral and that affects in particular the view of the Cathedral from the Alameda.
The Representative of ICOMOS informed the Bureau that only a few days ago, agreement had been reached between the local and the regional authorities to lower the already constructed building by 1.5 meters and to apply materials more suitable to the surroundings. Several delegates emphasized that Operational Guideline 47 invites the States Parties to inform the ...
The Bureau recalled the Committee's request at its sixteenth session that the Centre undertake a mission to review the state of conservation of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus following the information received on reconstruction works being undertaken at the main entrance of the Mosque. It expressed its regret that certain factors had precluded this mission from taking place and requested that ICOMOS undertake a general monitoring mission to Syria to review not only progress made in the works at the Mosque, but also the state of conservation of the Old City of Damascus.
Sites: Ancient City of Damascus
The Office of the Director-General for Historic Monuments of Turkey will collect all the technical documentation on Saint Sophie on the basis of a synthesis elaborated by the Director-General of this service. A group of Turkish and international experts will meet in Istanbul in September 1993 to prepare a global action plan for the safeguard of Saint Sophie.
A preliminary report will be presented to the Committee in December 1993. Financial support from UNESCO's Regular Programme will be allocated for this action which will be implemented in the framework of the International Safeguard ...
Sites: Historic Areas of Istanbul
The Bureau recalled that the Committee at its last session included this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger. Prevention of seasonal flooding has led to a decrease in the size and productivity of Srebarna and agricultural and residential use of surrounding areas have led to decline or disappearance of migratory and passerine bird populations. The Bureau recalled that IUCN, on the basis of two missions to the site in 1992, had concluded that Srebarna's World Heritage status may no longer be justified because it has deteriorated to a state where it may have irretrievably lost the ...
Sites: Srebarna Nature Reserve
The Bureau recalled that the integrity of this site, which has been inaccessible since the onset of armed conflict in the region in 1991, still remained intact. However, recognizing that the potential for a resurgence of hostilities continued to threaten the integrity of this site, the Committee, at its last session included the Plitvice Lakes National Park in the List of World Heritage in Danger and called upon the Government of Croatia, UNPROFOR and the authorities in the Krajina Region to co-operate to implement the Vance Plan and its successor resolutions to stabilize the political ...
Sites: Plitvice Lakes National Park
In 1981 the World Heritage Committee inscribed Mt. Nimba on the World Heritage List. In 1992 Mt Nimba was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger by the Committee which requested the Centre to send an expert mission to: (a) ascertain the boundaries of the site at the time of inscription and recommend an appropriate boundary; (b) assess the impact of the iron-ore mine and other threats to the integrity of the site; (c) work towards an integrated rural development project.
The mission was carried out between 15 to 30 May 1993. It included representatives from the Centre, UNDP, UNEP, ...
Noting that the Ecuadorean authorities have not yet provided the information requested by the Committee, the Bureau requested the Centre to contact them once again and obtain information on the status of the road construction project and on-going efforts to assess its impact on the integrity of the site. In accordance with the recommendations of the Committee, the Bureau also invited the Ecuadorean authorities to consider (a) submitting a proposal to extend this World Heritage site to include new areas that have been added to the Park, and (b) inviting a mission comprising regional ...
Sites: Sangay National Park
The Bureau recalled that the Committee, at its last session, was informed that the damage caused by the invasion of this site by militants belonging to the Bodo tribe in Assam was estimated to be about US$1.6 million and that although the Park infrastructure had suffered considerable damage, habitats in the inaccessible parts of the Sanctuary appeared to be intact. Concerned by the information reported by the Representative of IUCN that the area is still not completely free from encroachments by militants belonging to the Bodo tribe, and that illegal cultivation was spreading into parts ...
Sites: Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
The Bureau recalled that the Committee, at its last session, included this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger because it was concerned that the region in which it is situated has been affected by civil disturbance and that six members of the Reserve staff were being held hostage since February 1992. The Bureau deeply regretted that two of the six Reserve staff who had been held hostage died during their captivity and the health of the other four who were released in April 1993 was found to be poor. The Bureau instructed the Centre to transmit the Committee's condolences to the ...
The Bureau recalled that the Committee, at its fifteenth session held in Carthage, Tunisia, in December 1991, noted that eight helicopters regularly overflew the waterfall area and that local conservation groups opposed the use of the area by helicopters since it contravened legal regulations for air traffic control over protected areas. The Bureau was satisfied to note that the efforts of the Argentine National Park Administration and the Air Force, to establish an agreement to regulate the use of air space over the Iguazu National Park by helicopters is proceeding. The Bureau urged the ...
Sites: Iguazu National Park
The Bureau was satisfied to note that the Brazilian authorities were in contact with their counterparts in Argentina to study the possibilities for establishing common regulations for helicopter traffic over the waterfalls area.
Sites: Iguaçu National Park
17 BUR VIII.2
Wrangell-St. Elias-Kluane-Glacier Bay National Parks (Canada/United States of America)
The Bureau recalled that the Committee, while approving the extension of this transfrontier site to include the Glacier Bay National Park (USA), at its last session, urged the American and the Canadian authorities to incorporate additional areas to the World Heritage property.
In this regard, the Bureau was pleased to be informed ty the Observer for Canada that the Provincial Government of British Columbia has decided to propose to the World Heritage Centre to establish a new provincial park in the Alsek Tatshenshint region and nominate this park as part of the transfrontier world ...
In response to the December 1992 request of the World Heritage Committee, two meetings were held with representatives of the Central African Republic (CAR) to discuss: (a) the protection of the site; (b) participation of local people, and (c) the social-economic ramifications of a "privatized management regime". The first meeting in April determined that the issues were of an administrative and legal nature rather than ecological and thus it was decided not to carry out a field mission.
On 10 May 1993 legal representatives of the Central African Republic, UNESCO and IUCN met at the World ...
The Bureau took note of the fact that the proposal to construct a road through of the Talamanca-La Amistad Reserves of Costa Rica is unlikely to be implemented in the immediate future. The Bureau was informed that the Costa Rican authorities were not in agreement with all the boundary modifications recommended by the Committee, at its fifteenth session. The Bureau noted that the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mines, which is responsible for the management of the Talamanca-La Amistad Reserves, and the general public, as well as the indigenous people resident within the site, ...
The Bureau noted with satisfaction that the size of this mixed World Heritage property might be enlarged by about 50% and that the new areas earmarked for inclusion in the Park may contain natural and cultural heritage values of universal significance. The Bureau was informed that an IUCN project in the buffer zone of the Park is working with 26 villages to find alternative livelihood strategies which will minimize the dependence of the indigenous people on resources within the World Heritage site.
The Bureau commended the efforts of the Government of Denmark which is supporting this ...
Sites: Tikal National Park
The Bureau recalled that at its last session the Committee was informed that the Government of New Zealand had approved an application from a private company for a licence to export water from this World Heritage site. The exportation of freshwater would require the construction of a dam, a buried pipeline and four large reservoirs at Jackson's Bay. The Committee noted that the visual and ecological impacts of the proposed development project were not clearly known and that the legal and economic considerations which guided the decision to approve the project were being actively debated ...
The Bureau recalled that the Committee, at its last session, drew the attention of the Romanian authorities to the fact that they were yet to complete the final steps to establish a legislative framework for this site, despite the assurances of the Representative of Romania to the fifteenth session of the Committee in December 1991, when the Delta Danube was inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Bureau was informed that the Ministry.of Waters, Forests and Environmental Protection of Romania has prepared the draft of the law concerning the establishment of the Danube Delta Biosphere ...
Sites: Danube Delta
The Bureau recalled that at its last session in July 1992 it had requested IUCN to provide a report on the progress in the implementation of measures to mitigate environmental impacts of a road construction protect in this Park. The Representative of IUCN informed the Bureau that the University of Dakar, Senegal, had undertaken an independent assessment of the implementation of mitigation measures and that the findings of this study had been validated by the Regional Representative of IUCN for West Africa. The Bureau was pleased to note that the study had found the implementation of ...
Sites: Niokolo-Koba National Park
The Bureau recalled that this site was removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1988, and was deeply concerned to learn that the Prime Minister of Tanzania had announced that the residents of the area will be allowed to grow crops inside this World Heritage site, in contradiction to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Law. The Representative of IUCN noted that although allowing small areas of maize cultivation may help to ease conflicts between local people and site-staff, the announcement appears to have encouraged people to clear vegetation over extensive areas, including many ...
Sites: Ngorongoro Conservation Area