Kahuzi-Biega National Park

• Presence of armed groups, lack of security and political instability rendering a large part of the property inaccessible to the guards
• Attribution of mining permits inside the property (issue resolved)
• Poaching by armed military groups
• Bush meat hunting
• Villages in the ecological corridor between the highland and lowland sectors of the park
• Illegal mining and deforestation

• Adverse refugee impact
• Irregular presence of armed militias and settlers at the property
• Increased poaching
• Deforestation 

A draft has been developed during the 2017 Reactive Monitoring mission (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/137/documents), but the biological indicators still need to be quantified based on the results of a census of large mammals available at late 2018

Adopted in 2017, see page http://whc.unesco.org/fr/decisions/6954 

Adopted, see page http://whc.unesco.org/fr/decisions/6954

Total amount granted: USD 1,003,900 from the United Nations Foundation (UNF), and the Governments of Italy and Belgium and by the Rapid Response Facility (RRF)  

On 15 February 2018, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/137/documents/, providing the following information:

• Cooperation between the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN), the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and the provincial authorities continues and the joint patrols have enabled access to areas until recently, occupied by armed groups;
• No legal mining concession is active in the property; however, ICCN has identified 26 artisanal camp sites of which five were active, but have since been closed following the passage of the patrols;
• In 2017, the level of surveillance coverage of Kahuzi-Biega National Park (PNKB) was about 36% of the area of the property (against 52% in 2016). This decline is due to financial difficulties experienced in 2017. Nevertheless, patrols have been organized in all the sectors of the property in cooperation with the local communities and with support from the provincial information services. They have resulted in a reduction in poaching, in particular chimpanzees and gorillas;
• The Park guards were provided with new patrol gear and with necessary materials support to combat poaching, a new surveillance post has been installed in the highland sector, eight new agents have been added to the staff and a rapid intervention team has been established. More than thirty agents have been trained in monitoring methods and/or the IMET management tool (Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool);
• The participative delineation process of the boundaries of the property continued in 2017. Three field missions enabled the delineation of 18 km at the level of the ecological corridor, and the installation of 38 signboards to mark the boundaries of the Park – that were destroyed by illegal occupants – and identify the illegal farms. The PNKB agents have thus recorded certain offences and registered 29 illegal farms located between the sectors of Kushanka and Kalubwe. In October 2017, ICCN requested the Governor of South Kivu Province to cancel these land titles;
• ICCN continues the activities benefiting the neighboring communities through support to local development projects.

Two requests for International Assistance from the World Heritage Fund has also been submitted to support aerial surveillance of the property and to the delineation of the Park boundaries.

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

Current conservation issues

On 15 February 2018, the State Party submitted a report on the state of implementation of Decision 41 COM 7A.12. This report is available at the address: http://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/42COM/documents/#state_of_conservationreports  and provides the following information:

• Progress accomplished in the implementation of the 2011 Kinshasa Declaration and the corrective measures for each property are described in the individual reports (see Documents WHC/18/42.COM/7A and WHC/18/42.COM/7A.Add);
• Collaboration between the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) has been strengthened in order to increase security in the protected areas. Moreover, numerous measures have been undertaken by the Chief of State or other state institutions to reinforce ICCN’s institutional capacities, such as the revision of salary scales for the guards or the transfer of responsibility for the implementation of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and Wild Fauna and Flora) to improve combat against the illegal traffic of wild species;
• A large quantity of law-enforcement equipment have been provided to ICCN to strengthen the operational capacities of the Park guards ;
• No petroleum activity is envisaged in Virunga National Park and the SOCO Society has closed down its office in the DRC. However, on 1 February 2018, the President of the Republic has approved, by presidential decree, petroleum exploration permits in the Salonga National Park; the three blocks concerned cover a part of the property;
• In December 2017, the Prime Minister approved authorization to activate the Trust Fund « Okapi Funds for Conservation – FOCON » for sustainable funding of the protected areas in the DRC;
• The Corps responsible for security of the National Parks (CorPPN) and the related natural reserves, created in June 2015, is not operational due to lack of financial resources, thus delaying approval of the presidential decree for its creation. The Ministry of Defence and ICCN have, nevertheless, appointed their representatives.

Cooperation between ICCN and the FARDC, having led to the visit of the PNKB Director in February 2018 to the Lulingu sector, occupied up to that date, is commendable progress. However, the security situation in the lowlands remains of concern. On 4 March 2018, a team comprising 27 ICCN agents and WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) was kidnapped by militia while they were carrying out biological inventories in the Lulingu sector. Thanks to the intervention of ICCN and the provincial government, the entire team was freed on 24 March and all are sound and safe. It is recommended that the Committee commend the courage of the ICCN teams who, too often, exercise their functions at the risk of their lives.

The reported reduction in the surveillance coverage of the property is a worrying issue. It is noted that the surveillance effort (98% of the patrols) concentrate on the highland sector. The 2017 Reactive Monitoring Mission noted that ICCN had very limited access to an important part of the property. It is recommended that the Committee express its deepest concern as regards the persistent insecurity in a large, part of the property due to the presence of rebel groups carrying out illegal activities, such as artisanal mining exploitation and poaching.

In spite of financial difficulties, ICCN continued the recruitment and training of guards and has acquired new material. The efforts of the State Party are appreciable and it is recommended that the Committee encourage it to deploy guards to all the sectors of the property, when security permits, to ensure adequate surveillance of the property.

As regards the issue of the ecological corridor, it is noted that ICCN is intensifying its efforts to implement the recommendations of the 2015 Forum. The ICCN organized field missions in cooperation with the South-Kivu Provincial Consultative Forestry Committee, a body regrouping different state services, including governorate and cadastral services. They resulted in the identification of 18 illegal farms and the request to cancel land titles. However, the situation has been continuing for far too long and ICCN has attempted for decades to evacuate these farms without success. The occupation of the ecological corridor remains one of the major obstacles for the removal of the PNKB from the List of World Heritage in Danger. Consequently, it is recommended that the Committee congratulate the State Party for the steps undertaken enabling the identification of the illegal farms and requests it to accelerate the cancellation process of the, land titles and the evacuation efforts of the illegal occupants. These actions are crucial to guaranteeing ecological continuity between the lowland and highland sectors of the property. The State Party shall submit to the World Heritage Centre the maps and all information to enable the evaluation of the impact of the encroachment on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property.

It is noted with regret that no information as to the state of wildlife is provided in the report. The global inventory of the PNKB, that was begun in 2014, has not yet been completed due to insecurity. The results of this study are crucial for the evaluation of the OUV of the property. Preliminary results concerning the gorillas in the Nzovu sector was very worrying.  It is to be hoped that the results will be more encouraging in the other sectors. It is recommended that the Committee encourage the State Party to develop, with support from the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, indicators for the draft Desired state of conservation for removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) as soon as the census information is available.

It is finally recommended that the Committee maintain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger and continue to apply the Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism.

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

Analysis and conclusions of the World Heritage Centre and IUCN

The efforts of ICCN to implement the Kinshasa Declaration and the corrective measures in each of the properties as well as strengthening its collaboration with the FARDC and the different state institutions are favourably welcomed. Commendable progress has also been made with the law-enforcement equipment made available to improve security for the guards.

Insecurity caused by the presence of armed groups and various militia continue to threaten the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of most of the properties located in eastern DRC. In particular, it has a heavy human impact and in this respect, it is relevant to recall that the year 2017 was extremely tragic for ICCN staff. Twenty-one guards and a driver were killed in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve and in the Virunga National Park and many others were seriously injured. They were killed during attacks and ambushes deliberately targeting the ICCN staff. At the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, a team of 27 ICCN agents were kidnapped last March for more than a month by a group of militia. It is recommended that the Committee strongly condemn this violence, address its condolences to the families of the victims and ICCN staff and that it expresses its utmost concern as regards the continuing insecurity in and around most of the properties located in eastern DRC.

The delay engendered in the deployment of the CorPPN contingent is regrettable. It is recommended that the Committee reiterates its request to the State Party to provide human and financial means to enable it to become operational, and that it also requests the State Party to implement, in conformity with the Kinshasa Declaration, all means to establish security conditions for the ICCN staff to fulfil their mission under adequate conditions and without risk of life.

Concerning the issue of petroleum exploration, the State Party has informed the World Heritage Centre of the attribution of the three blocks that encroach a part of Salonga National Park. Other blocks should soon be attributed; if they were attributed, they would cover the total area of the property. Furthermore, the World Heritage Centre was informed in May of a proposal made in March 2018 by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons to its government of degazettement, at the national level of one or several zones of the Virunga and Salonga National Parks, to carry out petroleum explorations. It is noted that a partial reclassification of these Parks unilaterally decided by the State Party would question the legal protection of the properties. This legal protection is one of the three components of the OUV. Moreover, modifications to the boundaries of the World Heritage properties linked to extractive industries must be treated through the procedure applied for major modifications to boundaries, in conformity with Paragraph 165 of the Operational Guidelines, taking into account the potential impact of these projects on the OUV. Furthermore, this proposal is in contradiction to the Kinshasa Declaration that is committed to maintaining the protection status of the properties. It is therefore recommended that the Committee expresses its utmost concern regarding this issue and that it reiterates its position concerning the incompatibility of oil exploration and exploitation with World Heritage status. It is also recommended that the Committee urge the State Party to cancel these concessions and to attribute no new ones in Salonga National Park and its periphery. It is recommended that the Committee reiterates its deep concern as regards the proposal of degazettement one or several zones of the Salonga and Virunga National Parks to authorize petroleum exploration and that it recalls that modifications made to the boundaries of the World Heritage properties must be made in conformity with the provisions of the Operational Guidelines and must be based on strengthening the OUV of the properties, rather than facilitating extractive activities.

The efforts of the State Party to render the FOCON Trust Fund operational are warmly welcomed. It is recommended that the Committee congratulate the State Party for this important progress and encourages it, as well as the donors, to provide this Fund with adequate financial means to respond to the needs of the protected areas and the DRC World Heritage properties.