Appendix 3
Extracts from key UNESCO documents
Extract A – Decision adopted by the
World Heritage Committee at its 36th Session (Saint-Petersburg,
2012)[1]
36COM
7B.8
Great Barrier Reef (Australia) (N 154)
The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Document
WHC-12/36.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 35 COM 7B.10,
adopted at its 35th session (UNESCO, 2011),
3. Welcomes the initial positive
results of the Reef Plan and associated measures to address major long-term
impacts on the property from poor water quality, and requests the State
Party, in collaboration with its partners, to maintain, and increase where
necessary financial investment and sustain the positive trend beyond 2013;
4. Takes note of the findings of the
joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN reactive monitoring mission to the property
undertaken in March 2012, and also requests the State Party to address
the mission recommendations in its future protection and management of the
property;
5. Notes with great concern the
potentially significant impact on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value
resulting from the unprecedented scale of coastal development currently being
proposed within and affecting the property, and further requests the
State Party to not permit any new port development or associated infrastructure
outside of the existing and long-established major port areas within or
adjoining the property, and to ensure that development is not permitted if it
would impact individually or cumulatively on the Outstanding Universal Value of
the property;
6. Requests furthermore the State Party
to complete the Strategic Assessment and resulting long-term plan for the
sustainable development of the property for consideration by the World Heritage
Committee at its 39th session in 2015, and to ensure that the assessment and
long-term plan are completed against a number of defined criteria for success,
fully address direct, indirect and cumulative impacts on the reef and lead to
concrete measures to ensure the overall conservation of the Outstanding
Universal Value of the property;
7. Urges the State Party to establish
the Outstanding Universal Value of the property as a clearly defined and
central element within the protection and management system for the property,
and to include an explicit assessment of Outstanding Universal Value within
future Great Barrier Reef Outlook Reports;
8. Recommends the State Party, in
collaboration with its partners, to sustain and increase its efforts and
available resources to conserve the property, and to develop and adopt clearly
defined and scientifically justified targets for improving its state of
conservation and enhancing its resilience, and ensure that plans, policies and
development proposals affecting the property demonstrate a positive
contribution to the achievement of those targets, and an overall net benefit to
the protection of Outstanding Universal Value;
9. Requests moreover the State Party to
undertake an independent review of the management arrangements for Gladstone
Harbour, that will result in the optimization of port development and operation
in Gladstone Harbour and on Curtis Island, consistent with the highest
internationally recognized standards for best practice commensurate with iconic
World Heritage status;
10. Finally requests the State Party to
submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2013, an updated
report on the state of conservation of the property, including on the
implementation of actions outlined above and in the mission report, for
consideration by the World Heritage Committee at its 37th session in 2013, with
a view to consider, in the absence of substantial progress, the possible
inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger;
11. Decides to also consider a further
report from the State Party on the state of conservation of the property, the
findings of the second Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report, and the anticipated
outcomes of the completed Strategic Environmental Assessment and related long
term plan for sustainable development at is 39th session in 2015.
Extract B – Recommendations of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee Mission
Report (pages 61-64)[2]
Based on the assessment of the State of Conservation of the
property, considering its values, integrity and protection and management, the
mission proposes 14 recommendations.
The mission considers that the State Party should take
urgent measures to implement the following recommendations immediately to
prevent a further erosion of the OUV and address important threats to the property:
R1: Sustain beyond 2013, and on a long-term basis, the
current financial investment in the progressive and highly important Reef Water
Quality Protection Plan and associated Reef Rescue measures, and where
necessary increase this investment, to address impacts of water quality in the
catchments that drain into the Great Barrier Reef, and ensure that these
programmes and related planning policies consider water quality impacts from
all uses within the catchments.
R2: Not permit any new port development or associated
infrastructure outside of the existing and long-established major port areas
within and adjoining the property. It is essential that development is not
permitted if it would impact individually or cumulatively on OUV, including the
integrity of the property. This measure should apply both within and in the
adjacent areas to the property. This measure should take immediate effect and
requires full application until the Strategic Assessment and the resulting
long-term plan for the sustainable development of the property has been
completed, and has been considered by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th
session in 2015.
R3: Commission an independent review of all environmental
concerns of consented developments in Gladstone Harbour and on Curtis Island,
and the implications of the consented developments in Gladstone Harbour and on
Curtis Island for Traditional Owners and the local community dependent on the
resources of the area. The review should be undertaken by internationally
recognized and widely respected scientific experts and conducted in an independent
and transparent manner. The review should:
f) Consider all previous review
findings and all information used as a basis for the current approvals for
development in Gladstone Harbour and on Curtis Island;
g) Address the current and future
planning and management of the Port of Gladstone and development of Curtis
Island;
h) Lead to clear recommendations
for the optimization of port development and operation, including supporting
activities and infrastructure, and according to the highest internationally
recognized standards for best practice;
i) Provide lessons learned for
the development and operation of other port areas within and adjacent to the
property;
j) Lead to the implementation of
concrete action to address issues identified in the review, as soon as possible
and before any other major port development is commenced.
R4: Ensure that any development, including ports and other
types of development, as well as all associated infrastructure and supporting
activities are carried out consistent with the highest international standards
of best practice, commensurate with status of an iconic World Heritage property,
and enabling the State Party to continue to provide global leadership for the conservation
and sustainable development of multiple use marine protected areas.
R5: Complete the Strategic Assessment and resulting
long-term plan for the sustainable development of the property for
consideration by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in 2015. The
assessment and long-term plan should be completed in a coordinated and fully consultative
process, against a number of defined criteria for success, and considering the conclusions
and recommendations of the mission as set out in this report. Expectations of
the Strategic Assessment include that it will lead to:
-
A long-term plan with agreed leadership at Federal and State
levels, that addresses the entire property and the adjacent areas where
activities can affect the OUV of the property, and ensures that any development
that is approved results in an overall net benefit for the property;
- Explicit incorporation of all elements that make up the OUV of
the property, and in particular the long-term conservation of the integrity of
the property, into the decision making process regarding all development and
use that may negatively impact the property, both within the boundaries of the
World Heritage area and in areas adjacent to the property;
- Improved effectiveness of the overall protection, planning and
management of the OUV of the property as a whole, and the catchments, and
coastal and marine areas that are intimately linked to it, including if
necessary legal/statutory reforms to strengthen protection and management;
-
A clear and target-driven framework to support planning and
assessment of development proposals to protect OUV, and restore it where
necessary, and to ensure resilience of the site, including the consideration of
cumulative impacts;
- A clear analysis and related policies and strategies that will
sustain long-term sustainable development, compatible with the protection of
OUV, including consideration of the all economic sectors, including sustainable
tourism and recreation and commercial fishing, as well as coastal development;
- Spatial policies that will identify appropriate and limited
locations and standards for coastal development, and also identify areas that
should not be subject to development, and which will provide greater business
certainty regarding development proposals and community confidence and
understanding of future development scenarios;
-
Increased public confidence in their ability to engage with and
influence policy and development decisions, including independent mechanisms to
scrutinize and advise on the assessment of impacts of development;
- Support for new and enhanced policies and measures to regulate
and manage shipping, and provide appropriate emergency planning and response;
- Appropriate systems to secure that, where development and use is
permitted it will lead to net benefits to the property as a whole, including
from contributions from developers to mitigate impacts of development;
- Measures, such as legislative change to enhance compliance, that
may increase the results achieved from the funding available for management,
and to also increase overall levels of funding where required to provide for
effective protection and management.
R6: Include, in the future editions of the Outlook Report
for the Great Barrier Reef, and commencing with the version to be published in
2014, a specific assessment on the condition, trends, threats and prospects for
the OUV of Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The assessment should be
benchmarked at the date of inscription of the property in 1981, and its results
should be reported to the World Heritage Committee for consideration at its
39th session in 2015.
R7: Ensure that any determination made for applications
under the EPBC Act, considering this is the principal legislation to ensure
development does not negatively impact the values and integrity of the
property, includes for each application:
d) A thorough assessment,
supported by a detailed statement of reasons, and appropriate independent
review input, on how the proposal will ensure conservation of each of the components
that make up the OUV of the property, and avoid impacts upon it;
e) A thorough consideration of
the combined, cumulative and possible consequential impacts of development,
infrastructure and associated activities on the OUV as material considerations
in determining all applications, benchmarked on the date of inscription of the property
in 1981;
f) Detailed assessment of
alternative options for all aspects of a development proposal, including
supporting infrastructure and activities. This assessment should consider in
detail the environmental, social and economic costs and benefits and lead to a
clear indication of the net benefit of the development to the values and
integrity of the property.
R8: Adopt the highest level of precaution in decision-making
regarding development proposals with potential to impact the property, and to
Prevent any approval of major projects that may compromise the outcomes of the
Strategic Assessment, until the Strategic Assessment is completed and its
resulting plan for the long-term sustainable development for the property has been
considered by the World Heritage Committee. During this period, the State Party
is requested to ensure no developments are permitted which create individual,
cumulative or combined impacts on the OUV of the Great Barrier Reef World
Heritage area and its long-term conservation.
The mission considers that the following recommendations
to further improve the conservation of the property and strengthen its
management should also be implemented as soon as possible, and before the 39th
Session of the World Heritage Committee:
R9: Ensure all components of the OUV of the Great Barrier
Reef are a clearly defined and form a central element within the protection and
management system for the property as well as the catchments and ecosystems
that surround it. The OUV of the property should be a principal reference for
all plans and legislation relating to the protection and management of the
property as a whole, and in particular for legislation in relation to
development within or in areas adjacent to the property. All the elements that
constitute the OUV of the property should be included in the framework for
future monitoring and reporting on the State of Conservation of the property to
the World Heritage Committee.
R10: Develop and adopt, at the level of the Ministerial
Forum, clearly defined and scientifically justified targets for improving the
State of Conservation of the OUV of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area,
including for enhanced resilience of the property, and in particular for the conservation,
and where necessary restoration, of the inshore areas of the property that are
under greatest pressure. All plans, policies and development proposals
affecting the property should demonstrate a positive contribution to the
achievement of those targets.
R11: Commission an independent review, undertaken by
internationally recognized and widely respected scientific experts, of the
overall institutional and legal mechanisms that provide coordinated planning,
protection and management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area as a
whole. The results of the review should be reported to the Great Barrier Reef
Ministerial Forum and provide input to the Strategic Assessment to which the State
Party has committed. The review should address enhancement of the
implementation of the Great Barrier Reef Intergovernmental Agreement,
assessment of the effectiveness of legal protection, institutional and
management planning arrangements for the property, and include specific
attention to the areas of the property which are not managed by the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, as well as all adjacent marine, coastal and
land areas. This review should be provided for consideration at the 37th session
of the World Heritage Committee and subsequently lead to the implementation of
concrete measures to address identified weaknesses, under the scrutiny of the Great
Barrier Reef Ministerial Forum.
R12: Ensure increased resources from both State and Federal
Governments for the protection and management of the property, in particular to
cover growing costs associated with effective responses to key threats and
increasing demand for use of both within the property and its adjacent areas
that affect it. Resources allocated to the research, monitoring and
surveillance of the property should consistently reflect the actual increase of
costs associated with such activities.
R13: Develop a fully integrated approach to the planning,
regulation and management of ports and shipping activity affecting the
property, including via Shipping Policy for the property, the proposed Ports
Strategy of Queensland, and individual Port Plans, that will ensure that ports
and shipping activity does not negatively impact the OUV, including the
integrity, of the property, and meets the highest international standards in
its planning, regulation, assessment and operation.
R14: The mission recommends the State Party to strengthen
the sharing of its best practices and success stories, in particular those
related to the spatial and temporal management for tourism, recreation and
fishing, the framework developed for surveillance, compliance and monitoring of
the property as well as the community engagement programmes, with other World
Heritage sites facing similar management challenges but lacking the capacity to
deal with them. Recognising the excellence of many aspects of the management of
the property that is derived from over 35 years of experience, this support
should enhance the leadership role of the State Party to support World Heritage
Sites to be drivers for positive change globally, and in excellence in marine
protected area management in particular.
Finally the mission recalls the obligation of the State
Party to report to the World Heritage Centre any new plans and proposals for
developments that may impact the OUV of the property, consistent with paragraph
172 of the Operational Guidelines to the World Heritage Convention, and
prior to their determination. This has been done regularly by the State Party
since the 35th Session of the Committee, and the mission notes that
in future, and at least until the World Heritage Committee has considered the
completed Strategic Assessment and the resulting long-term plan for the
sustainable development of the property at its 39th session in 2015, these
reports should additionally include an executive summary detailing the outcomes
of the assessments mentioned in Recommendation 9 of the mission report and
confirming that the proposal will not individually or cumulatively impact on
the OUV of the property. The report to the 39th session of the World Heritage
Committee should be supported by a further World Heritage Centre/IUCN monitoring
mission to the property.
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