Decision : 30 COM 7A.15
Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras) (N 196)
The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Document WHC-06/30.COM/7A,
2. Recalling Decisions 28 COM 15A.13 and 29 COM 7A.12, adopted at its 28th (Suzhou, 2004) and 29th (Durban, 2005) sessions respectively,
3. Regrets that the report provided by the State Party, as requested by the Committee at its 29th session (Durban, 2005), was received by the World Heritage Centre on June 30th 2006, leaving little time for a thorough review;
4. Notes that the State Party has reported to the World Heritage Centre that it has fulfilled two of the target benchmarks set by the Committee for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger and that progress was made in the implementation of the recommendations of the joint 2003 UNESCO/IUCN mission, as requested by the Committee at its 29th session (Durban, 2005);
5. Requests the State Party to implement, before 2007, the remaining corrective measures proposed by the 2003 UNESCO/IUCN monitoring mission in order to meet the benchmarks set by the World Heritage Committee at its 28th session (Suzhou, 2004) for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger:
a) Prevent unauthorized activities in the buffer zone, including: agricultural expansion, illegal logging and poaching, specifically by putting into operation permanent and temporary checkpoints located at critical access points;
b) Develop inter-institutional work plans that provide clear definitions of the roles and responsibilities of the various public and private entities involved in the Reserve's management; and
c) Disseminate the environmental management plans related to the Ministry of Agriculture's development strategy within the Sico'Paulaya Valley zone;
6. Notes with appreciation the formal invitation from the State Party to UNESCO and IUCN, received in the letter of transmission of the report, to carry out a further monitoring mission to the property;
7. Requests the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to undertake a joint mission to assess progress in the implementation of the above noted benchmarks in view of a possible removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger at its 31st session in 2007;
8. Decides to retain the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Decisions Report