CIN-CG: Sea concreting has reached Korea

The latest UNESCO document prepared for the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee confirms that the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of ​​Kotor remains under increased international supervision.

In the Draft Decision on Kotor, which Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) had insight, which will be discussed at the Committee session in Busan, South Korea, at the end of July, UNESCO welcomes certain moves by Montenegro, but at the same time warns that the situation remains vulnerable due to development pressures, poor implementation of strategic planning and the cumulative impacts of multiple projects.

We received unofficial information from the Government that they are satisfied that the Draft praised progress and, as they claim, avoided being placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

CIN-CG wrote earlier this month that the fight is underway to preserve the status of the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of ​​Kotor on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with an effort to avoid being placed on the List of Areas in Danger, which Boka was on after a catastrophic earthquake from 1979 to 2003.

The Baošić case, however, is now explicitly mentioned in a UNESCO document for the first time. The state has informed the World Heritage Centre that a formal decision has been made to stop the works and restore the site to its original condition. The document also states that legal mechanisms have been activated to mitigate possible negative impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value of the area.

“In response to third-party information submitted on 27 February 2026 about unauthorized activities in Baošići (cadastral plots 771, 772, 773/1 and 774 KO), the State Party informed the World Heritage Centre that a formal decision had been made to suspend works and restore the site to its previous condition. Legal mechanisms have been initiated to mitigate possible negative impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property,” the Draft Report states.

The filling and concreting of the beach beneath the future Carine hotel in Baošići began in early 2026, without previously obtaining conservation conditions and consent from the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, which is why that institution ordered an immediate halt to the work in mid-February and the site to be restored to its original condition.

That's why he's a businessman. Cedomir Popović, owner of the company “Carine”, arrested at the end of March 2026. He was in custody until April 22.

However, although the Government of Montenegro has informed UNESCO about the steps taken so far, there has been no progress on the ground in restoring the beach to its original condition.

Earlier UNESCO documents did not single out the project in Baošići as Verige, Fjord, Jugooceania or quarries, but the latest material shows that the issue of works in the protected environment of the Bay of Kotor has entered the state's communication with the World Heritage Center.

In the same document, UNESCO notes that the steps taken by the state are encouraging, but that the effective implementation of the integrated protection framework still depends on the completion of the Heritage Protection Study and the revised Management Plan.

Therefore, the Draft Decision requests that the drafts of the Heritage Protection Study and the revised Management Plan be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review before finalization and before lifting the temporary suspension of planning permits. This means that UNESCO is not only asking the state to write new documents, but that they be reviewed by advisory bodies before adoption, and that the moratorium not be lifted until these frameworks are in place.

UNESCO further specifies what the Heritage Protection Study must include: clear identification of attributes of outstanding universal value, preparation of a buffer zone study, mechanisms for harmonizing spatial plans and protection measures, strengthening governance, robust procedures for strategic assessments, environmental impact assessments and heritage impact assessments, including an assessment of cumulative impacts. It also requires the establishment of mechanisms for monitoring development projects and responding to factors affecting the property.

Delete the Verige Bridge from the Spatial Plan

UNESCO welcomes the fact that the new national plan recognizes the frameworks for world heritage and environmental protection, but suggests that it should be further aligned with the recommendations of the ICOMOS technical review of April 2026. In particular, it is pointed out that the plan should provide clearer strategic guidelines for the Heritage Protection Study, subordinate planning instruments and inter-municipal coordination of protection measures.

The Committee welcomes the state's decision to abandon the Verige Bridge project and the transport corridor across the Luštica, but continues to request that the Spatial Plan be updated accordingly. This means that the abandonment of the disputed transport corridors must be visible in planning documents, and not only in state statements to UNESCO.

Fjord, Jugooceanija and Orahovac remain under special consideration. UNESCO notes that the Jugooceanija building has been granted legal protection as a cultural property of national importance and that a heritage impact assessment is planned for the former Fjord hotel. At the same time, it requests updated information and relevant documentation for both sites, as well as for any other projects that may negatively affect the outstanding universal value of the area. For the Orahovac hotel, it is specifically requested that the procedure not be continued until the World Heritage Centre and the advisory bodies have reviewed the updated project documentation.

There must be no new concessions for quarries.

In the case of quarries, UNESCO welcomes the ban on new concessions for the exploitation of mineral resources and the ban on the extension of existing concessions. The Committee requests that the State party regularly provide information on the status and operation of existing concessions.

UNESCO also requires that the sustainable tourism plan be subordinated to the overall Management Plan and the framework that will be established by the Heritage Protection Study. The document specifically states that tourism planning should not take precedence over basic protection documents. This is an important message for Kotor, where the pressure of cruise ships, visits, accommodation capacities and infrastructure has been one of the key challenges for years.

Continued and demonstrable progress in integrated cultural landscape protection and effective development management, the document states, will be crucial to avoid further deterioration of the area's outstanding universal value.

They are requesting a review of the protection study and management plan.

UNESCO welcomes Montenegro's move to develop a comprehensive Heritage Protection Study and a revised Management Plan to address the long-term challenges affecting the protection and management of the property. However, it requests that drafts of these documents be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for consideration before their finalization and before the temporary suspension of planning permits is lifted.

The Heritage Protection Study has yet to be completed. The state announces that it will cover the entire UNESCO area and its protected environment, map sensitive zones, define protection regimes and determine areas where impact assessments and cumulative assessments are required. It is a document that should translate UNESCO standards into specific prohibitions, restrictions and decision-making rules. The deadline for completing the Study is one year after the entry into force of the amendments to the Law on the Protection of the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of ​​Kotor, which is March 2027.

The Management Plan is similar. UNESCO has been seeking it for years as the basic instrument for managing the area and its buffer zone. The Government has announced that the new Management Plan will be completed in September this year.

Boka is a World Heritage Cultural Landscape, not a series of investment locations

The Draft requires that the previous decisions of the Committee, recommendations of missions and ICOMOS Technical Reviews be fully taken into account in the preparation of these documents. And in these decisions there is no room for local doubts in the application of protection. UNESCO requires that the key documents contain - the harmonization of all planning documents with the Management Plan and the Heritage Protection Study within 18 months of their adoption.

Then, a temporary suspension of the issuance of new planning permits and subsequent requests for the legalization of illegally constructed structures, with the establishment of strict control mechanisms and carefully defined exceptions for projects of public interest, which will be subject to strict control by the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.

It is particularly important that the so-called "administrative silence" in key decision-making procedures in the field of heritage protection is abolished. As well as the introduction of a permanent ban on the granting of new concessions for the exploitation of mineral resources, as well as a ban on the extension of existing concessions.

According to the Draft Decision, Montenegro should submit a new report to UNESCO by 1 February 2027 on the state of preservation of the Kotor area and the implementation of recommendations, including those of the joint UNESCO/ICOMOS mission from 2025. That report should be considered at the 49th session of the World Heritage Committee.

The focus of international oversight is shifting from promises to evidence: whether works have been stopped, whether sites have been restored to their original state, whether plans have been aligned, whether projects have been stopped before irreversible decisions have been made, and whether the state is truly managing Boka as a World Heritage cultural landscape, rather than a series of investment sites.

This text was supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. The views expressed in this text are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Balkan Trust for Democracy or The German Marshall Fund of the United States.