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Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park

Central African Republic
Factors affecting the property in 1999*
  • Illegal activities
  • Livestock farming / grazing of domesticated animals
  • Management systems/ management plan
Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports
  • Heavy poaching;
  • Lack of management plan;
  • Possible transfer of the management of the site to a private foundation
International Assistance: requests for the property until 1999
Requests approved: 0
Total amount approved : 0 USD
Information presented to the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee in 1999

Summary of previous deliberations : Uncontrolled poaching by armed groups had led to the death of four members of the Park staff in 1997, decimated more than 80% of the Park's wildlife populations and brought tourism to a halt. Welcoming the State Party’s intention to assign site management responsibilities to a private Foundation, the Committee had requested (Naples, 1998) the Centre and IUCN to contact the Government and the Foundation to prepare a detailed state of conservation report and a rehabilitation plan for the site. At its last session (Kyoto, 1999) the Committee, noting that the State Party had not responded to its recommendation mentioned above, suggested that the Director-General of UNESCO and the Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee write to the President of the CAR inviting his urgent intervention to implement the Committee’s recommendation.

New information : The State Party has not yet responded to the letters of the Director-General and the Chairperson of the Committee. A Centre staff member met the Minister of the CAR responsible for the conservation of this site and was informed that the State Party’s response to the Committee’s recommendation would be transmitted to the Centre shortly.

Action Required

The Bureau may wish to recommend that the Committee retain this property in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Bureau may wish to examine information that might be available at the time of its session and take the appropriate decision thereupon.

Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 1999

Summary of previous deliberations:

Twenty-second session of the Committee – paragraph number VII.3 Twenty-third session of the Bureau – paragraph number IV.2

New information:

The President of the State Party has yet to respond to letters from the Director-General and the Chairperson, transmitting the recommendations of the twenty-second session of the Committee (Kyoto, Japan, 1998), inviting the President’s urgent intervention for the preparation of a detailed state of conservation report and a rehabilitation plan for the conservation of the site.

 

Decisions adopted by the Committee in 1999
23 BUR IV.A.2
Manovo-Gounda-St.Floris National Park (Central African Republic (CAR))

The Bureau recalled that uncontrolled poaching by armed groups had led to the death of four members of the Park staff in 1997, decimated more than 80% of the Park's wildlife populations and brought tourism to a halt. The Committee, at its twenty-first session (Naples, 1997), had welcomed the State Party’s intention to assign site management responsibilities to a private Foundation and had requested the Centre and IUCN to contact the Government and the Foundation to prepare a detailed state of conservation report and a rehabilitation plan for the site. The Bureau noted with concern that the State Party has not yet responded to the letters from the Centre, transmitting the above-mentioned decision of the Committee taken in 1997, and reiterated by the Committee in 1998 (Kyoto).

The Bureau recommended that the Committee retain this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Bureau requested the Centre and IUCN to again contact the State Party and the private Foundation responsible for site management and to field a mission to this site if invited and prepare a detailed report describing the state of conservation of the site and measures needed for its rehabilitation. The Bureau recommended that the Centre and IUCN submit such a report for review at its twenty-fourth session to be held in mid-2000.

23 COM X.A.3
SOC: Manovo-Gounda-St.Floris National Park (Central African Republic (CAR))

X.3 Manovo-Gounda-St.Floris National Park (Central African Republic (CAR))

The Committee noted with concern that the President of the State Party has not responded to letters from the Director-General and the Chairperson, transmitting the recommendations of the twenty-second session of the Committee (Kyoto, Japan, 1998), inviting the President's urgent intervention for the preparation of a detailed state of conservation report and a rehabilitation plan for the conservation of the site. IUCN informed the Committee that it has received a report that calls for an urgent project formulation mission to the site. Other reports received from sources external to the State Party indicate continuing decline in the conditions of integrity of the Park. The EU project that started in 1988 was able to arrest some of the deteriorating conditions. But the implementation of that project was interrupted several times and with the final termination of the project due in 1999 the Park may become completely open to poachers. The reports received by the Centre and IUCN call for: (a) demonstration of national political will for the site's protection; (b) launching of a project integrating the management of the Park with the needs of local communities; (c) integrating village community leaders into the management of the Park; and (d) a participatory management regime that combines conservation and sustainable use of the site and the sensitization of national authorities and the local community to the need for such a management regime.

The Committee decided to retain this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee invited the Director-General of UNESCO and the Chairperson of the Committee to write once again to the President of CAR drawing his attention to their letters already sent in 1999 and calling for the President's urgent intervention to ensure protection of the site. The Committee requested UNESCO to collaborate with the Embassy of the CAR in France and urged both UNESCO and IUCN to work through their Offices in Central Africa and the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in the CAR to encourage the relevant authorities in the State Party to invite a Centre/IUCN mission to prepare a detailed state of conservation report and an emergency rehabilitation plan for the site.

The Committee may wish to retain this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee may invite the President of the State Party to urgently respond to the letters of the Director-General of UNESCO and the Chairman of the World Heritage Committee sent in early 1999. The Committee may request UNESCO and IUCN to collaborate their Offices in the region to encourage the relevant national authorities to invite a Centre/IUCN mission to the site to prepare a state of conservation report and an emergency rehabilitation plan.

Report year: 1999
Central African Republic
Date of Inscription: 1988
Category: Natural
Criteria: (ix)(x)
Danger List (dates): 1997-present
Exports

* : The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).

** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.


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