Decision 43 COM 7B.79

Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra (Albania) (C 569bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7B.40, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Notes the efforts undertaken by the State Party to continue to improve the conservation and management of the property, notably the maintenance and restoration works carried out in 2017 and 2018, and welcomes the adoption of the draft Law “On Cultural Heritage and Museums” and the General Urban Plans for both municipalities and requests their urgent implementation;
4. Also notes that the Gjirokastra Bypass project has been suspended and also requests the State Party to keep the World Heritage Centre informed on such projects;
5. Also welcomes the progress made with the implementation of monitoring indicators related to the protection of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and encourages the State Party and stakeholders to continue monitoring and controlling development in order to safeguard the OUV of the property;
6. Recalls the fundamental and urgent need for an overarching Integrated Management Plan (IMP) and appropriate control mechanisms for the property and its buffer zones and beyond, and noting the approved International Assistance request to develop such a plan, further request the State Party to:
   1. Develop, as a matter of priority and implement after review by the Advisory Bodies an overarching IMP, including a risk management component with threat mitigation measures,
   2. Develop and implement, after review by the Advisory Bodies, an integrated urban conservation and development tool, based on a detailed survey and documentation of all buildings and environmental features in the urban settlement and its wider context applying the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (2011), and ensure strong inter-institutional cooperation in particular with those entities responsible for urban planning,
   3. Reinstate the moratorium on new constructions within the property and buffer zones, and maintain it until approval of the above-mentioned tools for protection and management of Berat and Gjirokastra,
   4. Develop mechanisms and programmes to advance the restoration and conservation of the built fabric of the property;
7. Requests furthermore the State Party to take into consideration the review and recommendations provided by the Advisory Bodies concerning the Project of Integrated Urban and Tourism Development (PlUTD) and Berat Development Vision and Integrated Urban Development Concept (IUDC), and keep the World Heritage Centre informed of ways through which these comments are being taken into account;
8. Also encourages the State Party to continue providing the World Heritage Centre any development proposals before their official approval, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
9. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2020, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 45th session in 2021.