Garamba National Park

• Armed conflict and political instability
• Poaching by nationals and trans-border armed groups
• Unadapted management capabilities to address the poaching crisis

• Increased poaching
• Pressure linked to the civil war, thereby threatening the flagship species of the property

A draft was prepared during the 2010 reactive monitoring mission (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/136/documents/ ) but indicators need to be quantified on the basis of the results of the aerial surveys 

Adopted in 2010, see page https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/4082 
Revised in 2016, see page https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6652 

Not yet identified

Total amount granted: USD 937,000 from the United Nations Foundation, the Governments of Italy, Belgium and Spain and the Rapid Response Facility

On 5 February 2016, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property. A joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission visited the property from 29 February to 8 March 2016. The two reports are available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/136/documents.

The State Party reports the following:

• Further actions have been taken to reduce the risk of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) personnel involvement in poaching;
• Additional supplies and equipment for park guards have been acquired and deployed;
• Law enforcement operations have been further strengthened through establishment of a new operations room, a rapid reaction force and installation of necessary park infrastructure;
• Integration of FARDC and the Regional Task Force (FIR) has led to disarmament of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgents and other armed groups around Garamba;
• Aerial law enforcement surveillance activities were expanded to cover the entire park and 65% of the adjoining Hunting Areas;
• A socio-economic study in the three Hunting Areas was implemented to inform the development of a suitable conservation strategy for these areas;
• Community-based conservation activities around the park were strengthened, and ongoing support was given with the provision of health and education services by the park.

The State Party also reports that recognition of individual giraffes has enabled giraffe population estimation of at least 40 individuals and notes that aerial surveillance of 19 radio-collared elephants has enabled estimation of the total population at around 1,500 animals. The populations of most of the property’s other prominent mammals are reportedly increasing. There was a significant reduction in the number of elephant carcasses in 2015 and no giraffe was killed.

The State Party also notes a number of issues which continue to impact on the property, including insecurity and political instability in neighbouring South Sudan, presence of armed Mbororo cattle-keepers, loss of nine park rangers killed in action, the continuing strength of international ivory markets, and uncontrolled immigration of people into the Hunting Areas.

The continuing insecurity in the region and the heavy poaching pressure have continued to degrade the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and pose a significant risk to the park’s security personnel. In addition to the nine casualties reported by the State Party, on 24 April 2016, the Chief Executive Officer of African Parks issued a statement regarding a shootout with elephant poachers which killed three rangers and severely injured one ranger and the park manager. The unrelenting efforts of the Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature - ICCN) and its partners (especially African Parks) in securing the park and countering the poaching pressure deserve to be commended, and it is recommended that the Committee express its most sincere condolences to the families of the guards and soldiers who lost their lives.

The northern white rhino must now be considered extinct in the wild, while the population of elephants has been reduced by well over 90% (from 22,000 in 1976, to 11,000 in 1995, and to about 1,500 animals today). The country’s only population of giraffe now stands at a critically low number of around 40 individuals. Poaching pressure is exacerbated by insecurity and political instability in South Sudan and by the presence of armed Mbororo cattle-keepers, while the use of a helicopter for the mass killing of elephants has continued with a fourth incident in August 2015, which was responsible for the death of 8 elephants. The OUV of the property is severely degraded and could be lost if urgent action to reverse the downward population trend of key species is not taken.

Fortunately, the recently reduced threat from LRA insurgents has enabled a major change in law enforcement strategy since May 2014, with protection efforts now extended to the entire property, as well as significant parts of the adjoining Hunting Areas. It is recommended that the Committee commend these efforts and the early signs of success resulting from greatly increased levels of aerial surveillance, the strengthening and re-equipping of the ranger force, collaboration with the FARDC, development of necessary park infrastructure and a strategic emphasis on ranger mobility, rapid deployment capability and use of intelligence information.

While there has been progress in the implementation of the corrective measures, the mission considered that further progress is required to halt and reverse the degradation of OUV, in particular to monitor and protect the few remaining giraffe, further develop necessary park infrastructure, and more sustainable financing of park operations. It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to implement the new and revised corrective measures as set out in the mission report.

The World Heritage Centre has started separate consultations respectively with the State Parties of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, as well as Central African Republic, in view of convening a meeting on the security in the region.

The mission, in consultation with park’s managers, revised the indicators initially envisaged in the draft of the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) proposed by the 2010 mission (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/136/documents).  Progress in achieving these should be monitored through the resumption of regular aerial wildlife censuses. While the mission considered that these indicators could be achieved within five years if the current management efforts are maintained and further increased, it should be noted that it will likely take several decades for the property’s wildlife populations to achieve pre-war (1995) levels. Therefore, it will be crucial to further improve the security situation in the region to ensure that the recovery of OUV, once on its way, can be sustained. It is therefore recommended that the Committee reiterate its invitation to the Director-General of UNESCO to organize, in cooperation with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), a high-level meeting between the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, as well as Central African Republic and other potential stakeholders on how to improve security in the region and address the poaching issue. 

In the meantime, it is recommended that the Committee retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger and continue to apply the Reinforced Monitoring mechanism.

42.    General Decision on the properties of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

• Current conservation issues

On 5 February 2016, the State Party submitted a report on the state of implementation of the General Decision that is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/280/documents/ and provides the following updates:

• On 15 June 2015, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) published decree No. 15/012 on the establishment of a Corps established to strengthen security in the DRC National Parks (CorPPN) and related nature reserves. This decision falls within the framework of the implementation of the Kinshasa Declaration. The institution is placed under the authority of the Ministry of National Defense, Environment and Tourism and coordinated by the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN). CorPPN staff members will be recruited from the national army, police, specialized security services, conservators and ICCN guards;
• Collaboration between ICCN and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) has improved. Military contingents are deployed in all the sites where joint patrols are working to strengthen security;
• The Hydrocarbons Code was promulgated in August 2015 by the President of the Republic;
• Two inter-ministerial meetings were held in October and December 2015 to try to resolve the issue of mining concessions overlapping protected areas. These meetings have not yielded significant results;
• No oil exploration activity was observed in 2015 in Virunga National Park. However, the report notes that the State Party "retains the option to formally contact the World Heritage Centre to solicit a mission of the Advisory Bodies to discuss the oil issue in the property" (see report on Virunga National Park in WHC/16/40.COM/7A);
• Substantial resources have been mobilized for the sustainable financing of the properties. These contributions from the European Commission, the World Bank and the German Development Bank (KfW - Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) are allocated either to the Okapi Trust Fund for Nature Conservation, or invested directly in the conservation of the properties concerned. For example, the support programme of the 11th EDF (European Development Fund) will support the Virunga, Garamba and Salonga National Parks.
  • Analysis and conclusions of the World Heritage Centre and IUCN

The establishment of a Corps to strengthen security in the National Parks (CorPPN), which reaffirms the government's commitment to implement the Kinshasa Declaration, should be welcomed.

The State Party's efforts to secure the sites are commendable, however insecurity in and around the properties remains a persistent problem. The ICCN staff sustained heavy casualties and many wounded in the last twelve months: since April 2015, nine ICCN guards and three FARDC soldiers were killed in the line of duty in Garamba National Park. In March 2016, a guard was killed in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, two guards killed in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve and two more in the Virunga National Park. It is recommended that the Committee expresses its condolences to the families of guards and soldiers killed in protection operations for the property.

It is regrettable that although the Hydrocarbons Code was adopted in August 2015, Article 155 of the new Code (formerly Article 160), which provides for the possibility of declassifying protected areas including World Heritage properties in order to conduct oil exploration activities, has been maintained despite the requests of the World Heritage Committee. In addition, the State Party indicates that it may also solicit an advisory mission to study the possibility of amending the boundaries of Virunga National Park. It is recommended that the Committee expresses its deep concern about Article 155 of the new Hydrocarbons Code and reiterates its request to the State Party to cancel the oil exploration concessions in the properties of the National Parks of Virunga and Salonga. It is also recommended that the Committee reiterates its position that oil exploration and exploitation are incompatible with World Heritage status. It is regrettable that despite several inter-ministerial meetings, no progress was noted on the issue of mining concessions overlapping protected areas. It is recommended that the Committee requests the State Party to take the necessary measures for the cancellation of all licenses granted for mining activities that encroach on the territories of the properties in accordance with the law in force.

The efforts made towards the census of large mammals are welcomed, however, the preliminary analysis of the first sectors in Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) indicate  that the populations of Grauer gorillas and chimpanzees might be considered critically endangered according to the criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Mining is one of the major threats to their habitats (see the report on the KBNP in Document WHC/16/40.COM/7A).

In several properties inventories have shown that the biological indicators of populations of iconic species such as the northern white rhino, Kordofan giraffe, gorilla, chimpanzee and elephant, have decreased considerably. Decisive action is needed to reverse these trends.  Notably, the pressure on populations of elephants and giraffes in Garamba National Park remains very strong. It is recommended that the Committee recalls the importance of intensifying anti-poaching efforts and expresses its deep concern about the biological trends in the decline of some key species.

The UN Security Council, during  renewal of the MONUSCO Mandate (Mission of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) in March 2016, included a paragraph in the preamble to its Resolution 2277 (2016): "Expressing concern at the illegal exploitation and trafficking of natural resources by armed groups, and the negative impact of armed conflict on protected natural areas, which undermines lasting peace and development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and encouraging the Government of the DRC to continue efforts to safeguard those areas”.  In addition, the Security Council authorizes MONUSCO "to encourage the consolidation of an effective national civilian structure that controls key mining activities and manages in an equitable manner the extraction, transport and trade of natural resources in eastern DRC”.

The efforts made to mobilize funding for the properties of the DRC are considerable, in particular for the Virunga, Salonga and Garamba National Parks which will receive funding under the 11th European Development Fund, with a budget of 120 million Euros for the DRC. Other important financial support from Germany and the World Bank is also available to implement corrective actions and community conservation programmes.