Ngorongoro Conservation Area

• Geothermal energy development project (issue resolved)
• Increased human population
• Poaching
• Spread of invasive species
• Tourism pressure
• Grazing pressure
• Governance of the property and community involvement
• Challenging situation of community livelihoods
• Potential impact of lodge development project on the crater rim
• Impact of project for upgrading Lodoare Gate to Golini Main Road and access road to Olduvai museum
• Proposed museum building at Laetoli
• Condition and conservation of the Laetoli hominid footprints
• Management System/Management Plan

Totam amount provided to the property: USD 50,000 from Switzerland, USD 35,000 from the Netherlands, USD 20,000 from the United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP) and USD 8,000 self-benefitting funds from the United Republic of Tanzania in 2013-2014; USD 50,000 from the Flanders Funds-in-Trust in 2014-2015

On 1 December 2018, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, followed by an updated submission on 2 February 2019. A joint ICOMOS/IUCN Advisory mission visited the property in August 2017, followed by a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission in March 2019. All these reports are available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/39/documents/.

The State Party reports the following:

• No elephant poaching was reported in the property during 2017-2018. Monitoring and patrolling efforts have been further strengthened, including employing more rangers, establishing additional ranger posts in vulnerable areas and collaring of five elephants. Two more ranger posts are planned;
• The Invasive Alien Plants Strategic Management Plan has been updated and submitted to the World Heritage Centre;
• The draft General Management Plan (GMP) has been shared with various stakeholders, and was submitted to the World Heritage Centre in January 2019 for review;
• By government notice issued in June 2018, all roads in the property are now managed by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), bringing the heavy traffic along the Lodoare Gate to Golini Main Road under control;
• An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) on the Lodoare Gate to Golini Main Road was undertaken and submitted to the World Heritage Centre;
• A feasibility study for the southern Serengeti-Ngorongoro bypass road evaluated two route options, and concluded the Maswa–Lalago–Mbulu–Karatu (Mbulu Route) as the preferred choice from the environmental, social, economic and technical perspectives and as most effective in reducing through-traffic traversing the property;
• The development of the Laetoli Museum was halted until a Reactive Monitoring mission could visit the property.

The World Heritage Centre hosted a two-day expert meeting on the conservation of the Laetoli footprints and the museum project in March 2019, attended by the State Party, ICOMOS and ICCROM.

The continued reporting of no elephant poaching and the State Party’s dedication to combat both poaching and invasive plant species in the property is welcome. The submission of the draft General Management Plan (GMP) for the property after a stakeholder participation process, and with commitments from both stakeholders and administration to jointly take responsibility for its implementation, is equally welcomed.

However, the 2019 Reactive Monitoring mission concluded that further action is required to combat poaching and control invasive alien plant species.

Tourism development also remains a threat. The mission was unable to access information on current and future tourism facility development, but reported a concerning increased visual impact on the property from tourism-related developments. The mission concluded that whilst the draft GMP has objectives to stimulate further tourism development to the property, it lacks integrated guidelines and policies on tourism capacity. The threat posed by increased visitor numbers is compounded by the continued lack of an adequate tourism strategy for the property. The GMP also lacks an integrated framework for crosscutting stakeholder engagement on issues of mutual interest.

The mission concluded that a mechanism to monitor and enforce the implementation of the conclusions of studies assessing new tourism infrastructure is urgently required.

Cultural heritage is not yet receiving the levels of resources required for its conservation and the 2019 mission recommended that a conservation strategy, including a database of archaeological and cultural sites urgently be developed and implemented, augmented by additional resources. The mission recommended that:

• Ethnographical studies of the changing cultural practices and belief system of the inhabitants of the property be undertaken to inform future conservation policies;
• The Multiple Land Use Model review be completed as an important tool to sustain the livelihoods of the traditional pastoral residents in the property;
• Alternative approaches to the current voluntary inhabitant resettlement to outside the property be explored by the State Party, together with local communities and other stakeholders.

The March 2019 expert meeting concluded that the old and newly discovered Laetoli footprints require additional research and information to assess their stability, and prior to making any decision on future conservation measures. The meeting adopted a way forward proposed by the Advisory Bodies, including assessing and learning from other similar cases, development of case-scenarios for conservation and interpretation options and their feasibility, peer review, and a concluding meeting to be held in Tanzania in the latter half of 2019.

The 2017 Advisory mission had recommended that the road upgrade project be adjusted to avoid potential impacts on the natural and cultural heritage values of the property. The 2019 mission recommended that the road upgrade be halted until the 2017 Advisory mission recommendations had been addressed and the feasibility study for the southern bypass road submitted for review by the Advisory Bodies. Traffic monitoring and speed calming measures are urgently required.

The 2019 mission expressed its concern that many of the previous Committee Decisions are not being implemented, leading to a gradual and cumulative increase of threats to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property. It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to undertake a Strategic Environmental Assessment, which includes a Heritage Impact Assessment and addresses all current and planned projects in the property and assesses their individual and cumulative impact on the OUV, for submission to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies.