Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha

• Management Systems/Management Plan
• Management activities
• Legal framework
• Ritual / spiritual / religious and associative uses
• Commercial Development (Impact of the new structure of the Maya Devi Temple constructed in 2002 on the archaeological remains and the main sight lines of the property)
• Interpretative and visitation facilities
• Air pollution
• Housing
• Industrial areas

Total amounts provided: 2006: USD 7,200 from the UNESCO/Italy Funds-in-Trust; 2008-2023: 49,376 EUR and USD 125,000 from the Oriental Cultural Heritage Sites Protection Alliance; 2009-2024: USD 2,831,237 from the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust

On 31 January 2024, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/666/documents/ and provides the following information:

• On 9 December 2023, the government of Nepal declared Lumbini a “Protected Monument Zone” and is not currently implementing the Lumbini World Peace City project;
• The Integrated Management Framework (IMF) is being implemented;
• The Lumbini Development Trust has formed a World Heritage Coordination Unit;
• Amendment to the Lumbini Development Trust Act and changes to the Trust’s name to reflect its role as site manager of a World Heritage property, as recommended by the 2022 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission, are under consideration;
• A hydrological assessment report was prepared for the Mayadevi Temple Shelter;
• Guidelines have been provided regarding the Buddhist Meditation Hall (but not in one of the languages of the World Heritage Convention);
• Sector strategy documents were prepared for ‘Disaster Risk Management’, ‘Visitor Management’ and ‘Community and Sustainable Development’;
• A Visitor Management Plan and Physical Plan were developed for the Sacred Garden;
• The Interdisciplinary Technical Meeting (ITM) in November 2022 provided recommendations for immediate and ongoing conservation and monitoring of the Mayadevi Temple Shelter;
• A workshop was held to consider the potential Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu World Heritage nomination, and a landscape and conservation strategy is being prepared;
• Industrial activity in the vicinity of the property remains subject to Supreme Court proceedings;
• New developments include a better lampshade to reduce activity near the Ashoka Pillar, and a wooden praying at the southern and western parts of the sacred pond.

Twenty-five substantial annexes, comprising documents dating between 1985 and 2023, were included with the State Party report and have informed the analysis and conclusions below.

On 19 February 2024, the World Heritage Centre requested information from the State Party, in line with Paragraph 174 of the Operational Guidelines, following third-party reports of proposed development projects in the vicinity of the property. At the time of writing this report, the State Party has not yet responded to this request.

The State Party has made positive steps towards the preservation of the property with the declaration of Lumbini as a Protected Monument Zone and the formation of the Lumbini World Heritage Coordination Unit. The adoption of the IMF, previously welcomed by the Committee, emphasizes the need for its thorough implementation, including financial and resource allocation, and the Committee may wish to request an IMF ‘Action Plan’ to be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for its review. The initial drafting of sector strategy documents for Disaster Risk Management, Visitor Management, and Community and Sustainable Development represents progress, but strategies for Archaeology, Local Development, Environment, and engagement with Buddhist Organisations remain outstanding.

The halting of the Lumbini World Peace City project mitigates immediate concerns over its potential impact on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) yet underscores the need for a full and timely Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) of the project proposal, in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, should the project proceed in the future, to be submitted prior to implementation and before any irreversible decision is made. Regrettably, new developments within the Sacred Garden proceeded without such assessment, underlining the importance of comprehensive HIAs for future projects to safeguard the Greater Lumbini Area’s heritage, which should all be carried out in line with the above-mentioned Guidance and Toolkit. The 2023 Planning Team Report annexed to the State Party’s report notes the proposed development of a strategy and action plan to protect the Greater Lumbini Area and its wider setting, including Tilaurakot and Ramagrama, and to reduce industrial activity in the vicinity of the property. This important strategic document should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before it is finalised.

The State Party's report, while extensive, largely revisits past findings without adequately addressing recent concerns raised by the World Heritage Committee or the recommendations from the 2022 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission. Key issues such as the destruction of remains at an ancient Lumbini village located within the buffer zone and discrepancies between the capacity of the site manager (i.e. the Lumbini Development Trust) and the scale of conservation efforts needed, remain unaddressed. While the report includes ‘Conference Centre Guidelines’, these have not been provided in one of the working languages of the Committee (English or French) and cannot be considered to answer the Committee’s previous request. While the State Party’s report mentions a hydrological assessment in response to the need for practical and effective measures to prevent more damage to the remains from the wet environment created by high water levels and water penetration in and around Mayadevi Temple Shelter, identified by the 2022 mission, this assessment was not provided. These omissions are concerning, especially given the Reactive Monitoring mission’s conclusion that the property is facing deterioration of its significant attributes, which puts its integrity, authenticity, and thus its OUV at risk.

The condition of the Sacred Garden and Mayadevi Temple Shelter, in particular, continues to alarm, with previous interventions failing to halt deterioration. The need for immediate conservation efforts at the Mayadevi Temple Shelter is critical, as further highlighted by the November 2022 Interdisciplinary Technical Meeting for the Conservation of the Archaeological Remains, which formulated extensive recommendations for protecting archaeological remains and managing the microclimate impact of the shelter and its visitors. Despite these concerns and initial discussions for improvement, tangible actions remain scarce. The alarming state of conservation should be dealt with immediate conservation measures within the Mayadevi Temple Shelter, along with mid- to long-term protection goals, using the latest surveys and technologies available.

The submission of reports on current projects, such as the 2022 Review of the Kenzo Tange Master Plan for Sacred Garden and the 2023 Visitor Management Plan for the Sacred Garden in Lumbini, indicates some movement towards compliance with the Committee's requests. However, the absence of submitted HIAs and the failure to update the ‘Guidelines for Heritage Impact Assessment in Nepal’ to ensure consistency with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessment in a World Heritage Context, as requested by the Committee in Decision 45 COM 7B.46, reflect a concerning gap in adhering to the standards required for the conservation of World Heritage.

Despite some progress, many of the recommendations from the 2022 Reactive Monitoring mission and the 2023 International Scientific Committee meeting remain unfulfilled. The deteriorating condition of the archaeological remains within the Sacred Garden and the Mayadevi Temple Shelter notably threatens the site’s OUV, as per Paragraph 179 of the Operational Guidelines; this is compounded by the absence of significant progress with mitigation, which constitutes an ascertained threat to the OUV of the property. This concerning situation and the evidenced lack of sufficient capacity to address the various issues result in a recommendation to inscribe Lumbini on the List of World Heritage in Danger. This action aims to galvanize more effective conservation efforts and international support to help the State Party address the challenges faced by the property, urging the State Party to work closely with the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies to establish a roadmap for the site’s recovery, including a Desired state of conservation for removal of the property from the List (DSOCR) and a set of corrective measures aligned with the mission’s recommendations and the outcomes of the 2023 meeting of the International Scientific Committee.