State of Conservation

a) Earthquake damage

b) Lack of Management Planning/system

c) Inadequate legal system

d) Accelerated urban development and urban pressure

e) Proposed major bridge at Verige

f) Lack of buffer zone – requested since 2003

Requests Approved: 0 (from 1979-1982)
Total Amount Approved: 70,000USD

2003: joint World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS mission; January 2006: Management Planning Course; February 2008: joint World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS mission 

On 1 February 2012, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report which addresses the requests of the World Heritage Committee at its 32nd (Quebec City, 2008) and 33rd (Seville, 2009) sessions.

a) Verige Bridge and the by-pass project

A Visual Impact Assessment of the proposed Verige bridge and its associated road network was carried out between June and November 2009, in line with the recommendations of the joint UNESCO/ICOMOS mission in 2008 and the request of the World Heritage Committee.

The impact assessment was part of a wider project to develop an Integrated Spatial Plan for the conservation of landscapes in Boka Kotorska Bay, through the harmonisation of spatial plans of three neighbouring municipalities and the development of an integrated transport plan. The project was supported by the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ).

The assessment concluded that the proposed bridge and access roads, viaducts, stations, tunnels, etc. would have an extremely strong and irreversible impact on the landscape and key visual links would be compromised. Further, the height of the road bridge (53 m) would limit access of maritime vessels of greater height into the Bay of Kotor and, the proposed by-pass, the coastal motorway around the bays of Kotor and Risan, would be too narrow to alleviate the increase in traffic from the link between the two motorways and the local roads.

The recommendations of the impact assessment were to carry out detailed studies on an alternative tunnel crossing of the bay, and if that proved impossible, to study modified bridge proposals, including speed restrictions on the coastal highway and changes to the access roads and to put in place an overall integrated transport policy. The Government of Montenegro adopted the results of the impact study in March 2010. Apparently all work is currently on hold.

However, the bypass around the Bay of Kotor, about which the Committee at its 33rd session expressed its great concern, has already received funding from the European Investment Bank and the project work is apparently continuing.

b) Management Plan

As part of the spatial plan project, an expert workshop was held in May 2011 to develop a Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value which was submitted by the State Party to the World Heritage Centre on 4 February 2011. The expert workshop also revised the Management Plan, which was adopted by the Government of Montenegro in December 2011. The latter has not been submitted to the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies for review.

There are intentions of a larger reform of the institutional management. It is estimated that the reform will start after the adoption of a Law on the Protection of the Natural Region and Cultural-Historical Region of Kotor. The 2011 report mentions the intention to create an Agency for the protection and management with coordination functions. No other details are provided. Meanwhile coordinated management is still lacking.

c) Legal Framework

A new Law on Cultural Properties was adopted in 2010. This act protects the cultural landscape as cultural heritage, regulates the proposed buffer zone and legitimises the Management Plan. As yet, it is not clear how this will translate into detailed measures to protect the property and its proposed buffer zone.

d) Buffer Zone

A Buffer Zone has been delineated and submitted for evaluation covering the Bay of Kotor as recommended by the 2008 Mission. It will be examined by the World Heritage Committee under Item 8 of the Agenda (Document WHC-12/36.COM/8B).

e) Accelerated urban development and urban pressure

In the absence of coordinated management and detailed legal protection, there is evidence of increasing tourism development. However, few details were provided by the State Party.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies note the progress made with the legal protection and the finalisation and adoption of the Management Plan which they suggests should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies. An overall coordinated management system for the property and detailed prescriptions for its legal protection, as recommended by the last mission, are still to be developed.

They also note the development of the Visual Impact Assessment of the Verige Bridge and its associated road network and support the clear outcome that the proposed bridge would have a highly negative impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. They consider that the bridge scheme should be formally abandoned and efforts made to pursue an underground tunnel, the development of ferry service in the Bay and improvements to the general system of roads at local, regional and international levels. The bridge project has highlighted the deep problems facing the general transport system of the region and there remains an urgent need to develop the proposed integrated transport strategy linked to the integrated spatial development plan of the three neighbouring municipalities.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies note that the proposed by-pass road has been given funding by the European Investment Bank and work may already be progressing even though an Impact Assessment has been undertaken which acknowledges the detrimental impact of the by-pass road on the cultural and natural heritage values. The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies therefore consider that work needs to be halted and revised as part of an integrated transport strategy.