Archaeological Site of Carthage

Land development and infrastructures within the property

Total amount provided to the property: International Safeguarding Campaign, 1973-1989

On 21 March 2016, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/37/documents. Progress achieved concerning a certain number of conservation issues raised by the Committee during previous sessions is treated in this report as follows:

• Despite a difficult political, economic and security context, the operational budget for the Carthage site has been maintained, enabling the acquisition of land in a zone classified in 1985 and to undertake maintenance and conservation work, such as weeding and fire prevention at the Byrsa hill area, reinforced security measures with the installation of cameras and lighting and surveillance patrols and varied conservation work at the amphitheatre at Ibn Chabat and in the Magon quarter;
• The Punic port has been definitively evacuated of leisure craft and measures taken to prevent any recurrence;
• Archaeological excavations have continued and new discoveries made in the Tophet zone and preservation excavations are regularly undertaken with the view to obtaining building permits (in the buffer zone of the property), which have on occasion revealed new discoveries;
• Joint maintenance and conservation actions are implemented with local associations;
• The report noted issues that still remain to be resolved as regards the management and work in the vicinity of the Antonin Baths, in UNESCO Square, and the museum;
• In particular, the Protection and Enhancement Plan (PPMV) cannot be completed before the resolution of funding issues resulting from declassification/reclassification (in March 2011) of certain zones within the archaeological site, some built and others not; a commission dedicated to the implementation of the decree for delisting has produced a report relating to land issues;
• The delimitation of the property resulting from this report is awaiting approval by the Ministry of Equipment.

The State Party continues its efforts in the conservation, protection and maintenance of the property and allocates the necessary resources to the property through the acquisition of land of archaeological importance, the evacuation of abusive craft from the Punic port and preventive security and fire protection measures, despite a difficult political and economic context; the involvement of civil society reinforces these actions.

The management of public areas such as the UNESCO Square and the vicinity of the Antonin Baths remain unresolved in order to control the informal increase of commercial shops in the framework of an integrated management plan for the property. However, land issues linked to the declassification/reclassification of certain zones of the site continue to constitute an obstacle for the definition of the boundary of the inscribed site and its buffer zone, and the adoption and application of the PPMV. Moreover, the issues concerning the buildings already built in the declassified/reclassified zones have considerable environmental, financial and social implications that would be important to evaluate and clarify. It is recommended that the Committee urge the State Party to undertake pragmatic solutions and rapidly adopt the boundary of the property and its buffer zone, including the criteria used to define the buffer zone, regulations and measures that govern it and the provisions undertaken for its management and adopt the PPMV. The protection of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of Carthage greatly depends on the implementation of an archaeological and conservation strategy, the preparation of an enhancement plan and a tourism management plan, the coordination of management and preservation tools for the property and the coordination of the roles of the different actors concerned, as requested by the World Heritage Committee.