Decision 44 COM 7B.9

Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove (Nigeria) (C 1118)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 43 COM 7B.109, adopted at its 43rd session (Baku, 2019),
3. Acknowledges the progress made by the State Party in the restoration of sculptures and their documentation;
4. Welcomes the digital documentation pilot project to digitise part of the sculptures on the property, and its proposed use as a communication tool in future editions of the Festival, and encourages the State Party to extend this documentation process to cover all the shrines, sculpture and art works in the property alongside photographic documentation;
5. Reiterates its concerns that no satisfactory basis for conservation has been defined that is underpinned by research into appropriate alternative materials to cement, which does not provide a suitable long-term material given its susceptibility to cracks and water ingress in the local hot and humid climatic conditions, and notes that the complete or partial reconstruction of sculptures is still being undertaken;
6. Requests the State Party to refrain from carrying out any non-urgent work on restoration of the sculptures and to halt all reconstruction until a revised conservation methodology and phased conservation plan has been prepared and submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, and, given the fundamental need to address the conservation of the large number of shrines, sculptures and art works in the property, encourages the State Party to put in place regular resources to ensure that skilled local craftspeople continue to be employed in this work;
7. Also notes that although the Osun State has now agreed to carry out regular sampling of water in the Osun river, and is urging residents not to dump waste upstream as a safety precaution to be taken to avoid any risk of contamination, and also requests the State Party to take concrete steps to prevent direct consumption of drinking water from the river until adequate measures have been taken to improve purity to drinking quality levels, while encouraging it to find a temporary solution, together with traditional religious leaders, so that purified water can be given to festival participants;
8. Further notes that work to revise the Management Plan has been promised but no details have been provided as to how the management system might be made more inclusive or how management might be funded at a sustainable level and benefit from Festival revenue;
9. Notes furthermore that no progress has been made with the implementation of an alternative route to the road through the property, and also encourages the State Party to draw up viable proposals for the Osun State to implement;
10. Takes note that the artists’ village is located within the buffer zone, but still expresses concern that no details of this were provided for review in the light of the concerns on its location expressed by the 2015 ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission;
11. Thanks the State Party for having invited a joint World Heritage Centre/ICCROM/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property, scheduled to be carried out in March 2020 but postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and reiterates the need for this mission to be carried out as soon as circumstances permit to address the abovementioned conservation issues in order to assess whether the threats facing the property would, in conformity with Paragraph 179 of the Operational Guidelines, represent or not a case for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and also to consider how the overall management of the property can be put on more inclusive and sustainable footing;
12. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2022, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session.