The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Document WHC-09/33.COM/7A,
2. Recalling Decision 32 COM 7A.6, adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008),
3. Expresses its most sincere condolences to the families of the guards killed in the course of operations linked to the protection of the property, as well as to the other victims of the different attacks against the park;
4. Notes with deep concern the most recent breakdown of security that continues to delay the implementation of conservation activities and risks to threaten the achievements of these past years that had halted large-scale poaching of elephants and other flagship species;
5. Expresses its great concern with regards to the possible extinction of the Northern white rhino of which no evidence has been identified to date, despite intensive searches within the property and in the adjacent hunting areas;
6. Urges the State Party, in cooperation with the Mission of the United Nations Organization for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), to strengthen its efforts to disarm all the national and foreign armed groups operating in and around the property and restore security;
7. Reiterates its request to the State Party to implement the corrective measures adopted by the World Heritage Committee following the 2006 monitoring mission;
8. Reiterates its requests to the State Party, in consultation with the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies, to develop a draft Statement of Outstanding Universal Value and a proposal for the desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session in 2010;
9. Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN reactive monitoring mission to assess the state of conservation of the property and progress achieved in the implementation of the corrective measures, establish the desired state of conservation for removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger, update the required corrective measures and the timetable for their implementation;
10. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2010, a report on the state of conservation of the property, including information on the status of the population of the Northern white rhino and other flagship species of the property, an update on the disarmament of the armed groups in the park and progress achieved in the implementation of the corrective measures, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session in 2010;
11. Decides to continue to apply the reinforced monitoring mechanism to the property for one more year;
12. Also decides to retain Garamba National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.