The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Document WHC-10/34.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 31 COM 7B.5 and 33 COM 7B.1, adopted respectively at its 31st (Christchurch, 2007) and 33rd (Seville, 2009) sessions,
3. Expresses its deep concern as regards the conclusions of the World Heritage Centre/IUCN mission that considers that the Outstanding Universal Value of the property is threatened by a progressive erosion of its biodiversity due to increased poaching, as well as by the negative impact of the commencement of mining activities of the GEOVIC Company, the development of forestry exploitation, and the encroachment of agriculture around the property;
4. Considers that in the absence of an urgent and decisive response in the face of these threats, it is certain that the property could meet the criteria for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger in accordance with Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines;
5. Requests the State Party to review the Environmental and Social Impact Study (ESIS) based on the final technical feasibility study prepared by the GEOVIC Company, and to submit an Environmental and Social Management Plan to mitigate the direct and indirect negative impacts of the mining project;
6. Calls upon the international community to assist the State Party with the review of the Environmental and Social Impact Study (ESIS);
7. Urges the State Party to suspend the implantation work for the GEOVIC mining activity until the conclusion of the new ESIS and also requests the State Party to control the validation of these documents by the different stakeholders and to inform the World Heritage Centre by 1 December 2010;
8. Further requests the State Party to develop and implement an emergency plan before the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee, based on the management plan with the following objectives:
a) Improve the operational organization of the Reserve and strengthen the supervisory and surveillance personnel,
b) Focus the management of the property on the Outstanding Universal Value and establish a systematic monitoring mechanism on the pressures and threats,
c) Strengthen the controlling power of the ecoguards and limit the traditional use of natural resources by the local populations,
d) Strengthen the level of protection in the Reserve by transforming it, if possible, into a national park and taking into account its uses by the indigenous populations,
e) Reenergize the consultation frameworks with the local NGOs and other concerned stakeholders,
f) Clearly re-establish the boundaries of the property based on controllable axes such as the Dja River, or the recognized circulation routes,
g) Propose a suitable budget for the implementation of these priorities,
h) Define a monitoring-evaluation framework that includes pertinent indicators on wildlife and ensure the collection of historic and updated data;
9. Requests furthermore the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN monitoring mission to the property in 2011 to evaluate the implementation of the recommendations of the 2009 mission and the progression of the threats, notably the mining and industrial agriculture projects;
10. Requests moreover the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2011, a report on the state of conservation of the property, and on the steps taken for the implementation of the recommendations of the 2009 World Heritage Centre/IUCN mission, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th session in 2011, with a view, in the absence of substantial progress, to considering the possible inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.