Timbuktu

• Occupation of the property by armed groups
• Lack of management structure at the site (problem resolved in 2019)
• Armed conflict

• Occupation of the property by armed groups
• Absence of management
• Destruction of 14 mausoleums and degradation of the three mosques in the serial property

In progress 

Adopted, see page https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6622 

In progress

Total amount granted: USD 100,000 from the Italian Funds-in-Trust; USD 55,000 from the UNESCO Emergency Fund; USD 2,100,000 from the Action Plan Fund for the rehabilitation of cultural heritage and the safeguarding of ancient manuscripts in Mali; 2013: USD 37,516 from The Netherlands Funds-in-Trust; approx. USD 313,000 granted in 2020 from the European Union (out of a total contribution of USD 556,036 for activities in Mali).

On 28 January 2020, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report (available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1139/documents/), providing the following information in response to Decision 43 COM 7A.55 of the Committee:

• The different municipal and regional authorities are increasingly mobilized in the conservation of the property and the implementation of the corrective measures;
• The Management Committees for the Djingareyber and Sidi Yahia mosques have been renewed and the traditional corporation of masons has designated a new chief. They have committed to removing the containers and small tin houses from the medina, and wish to have a legal regulatory intervention framework to better prevent inadequate architectural interventions;
• Torrential rains in 2019 have caused the partial collapse of the roof of the Sidi Yahia mosque. Repair work was carried out by the corporation of masons. Rain also damaged the small minaret of the Djingareyber mosque. Despite repair work, the entire façade needs to be rehabilitated;
• An architect expert mandated by UNESCO to examine the damage noted a lack of vigilance in the monitoring of the Sidi Yahia mosque;
• The Djingareyber mosque Committee wished to construct a building in the courtyard to welcome the worshippers, with support from Barkhane Forces, but without consulting the Cultural Mission. It was finally accepted to halt and demolish the work already undertaken;
• The increasingly hard winters and the more violent and frequent sandstorms have perturbed the annual recurrence of rough rendering of the mosques, exposing them to risks of erosion and collapse. Henceforth, rough rendering shall be better planned;
• The maintenance of the mausoleums is neglected since the implementation of the rehabilitation programme. A request was addressed to the families responsible for the mausoleums to organize an association to coordinate maintenance;
• The cemeteries housing the mausoleums are surrounded by rubbish and degraded due to the absence of guardians and maintenance. The fencing of the two cemeteries have been repaired, whilst those of the mausoleums of Sidi Mahmoud and Cheikh Sidi Elmoctar have collapsed due to silting;
• The Cultural Mission continues to lack financial, human and logistical means and only has obsolete and old equipment;
• The problem of vibrations caused by heavy vehicles in the vicinity of the mosques remains current;
• The different stakeholders are not familiar with the texts relating to the 1972 Convention, and the illiteracy of the workers render the Maintenance Guide for the Mausoleums useless;
• New funding from the European Union began in March 2020.

The State Party’s commitment to the conservation of the property is noted and appreciated, in particular the mobilization of the municipal and regional authorities and through the renewal of the Management Committees for the mosques. Increased mobilization of the Management Committees in the maintenance activities of the mosques and their surroundings is required to prolong the actions carried out over past years. The desire expressed by these Committees to dispose of a legal and regulatory intervention framework as well as their need to strengthen their capacities, illustrates this renewed commitment.

However, the insufficient monitoring of possible inadequate interventions on the urban fabric of the medina is demonstrated by the construction of a building in the courtyard of the Djingareyber mosque with massive masonry pillars, without involving the Cultural Mission or the designated mason for the mosque. On 18 February 2020, the World Heritage Centre addressed a letter to the State Party concerning this issue and requesting the suspension of this construction, in non-conformity with the architecture of the mosque. This letter also indicated that on-going construction of new buildings within the medina out of line with its architecture was likely to affect the visual integrity of the property and possibly impact its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV).

On 16 April 2020, the State Party informed the Secretariat of the demolition of the constructions within the mosque and that solutions have been found to make the new constructions conform with the traditional architecture of the medina. However, a mission led by the Head of the UNESCO Office in Bamako in November 2020 again noted the anarchic construction of a hangar in the courtyard of the mosque, the lack of leveling of the roof of the mosque which could cause infiltration of rainwater, concrete block constructions around the mosque, and the lack of maintenance of the rehabilitated mausoleums. On 30 December 2020, the State Party informed the UNESCO Office in Bamako of the Management Committee’s decision to demolish the constructions in the main courtyard of the mosque, to level the roof of the mosque, to completely cover the walls of the houses around the mosque with alhore stone, and to replace the tin doors and windows with local wood joinery.

This demonstrates the importance of implementing the Management and Conservation Plan to further raise awareness of the local population and private owners of the heritage prerogatives of the property, and to ensure that the local authorities apply and, when necessary, strengthen the enforcement of urban regulations. It should also be recalled that the State Party should inform the World Heritage Centre before launching any major construction project, in compliance with paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.

The partial collapse of the Sidi Yahia mosque roof following torrential rains in August 2019 and the deterioration of the state of conservation of the Djingareyber mosque is a cause for concern at several levels, as confirmed by the architect expert after examination of the damage. In the case of Sidi Yahia, damage is mostly due to lack of monitoring, while the Djingareyber mosque, that has not been rough-plastered since 2017, suffers from a weakening in traditional conservation mechanisms.

As indicated by the State Party, it would appear that the substantial financial support granted over several years, despite its evident beneficial impact, has installed an expectancy with regard to UNESCO and other partners, by which the maintenance of the heritage would now depend upon their continued financial support, and this at the cost of the intrinsic traditional conservation practices and mechanisms that have preserved the heritage value of the property over centuries. Therefore, it is necessary to revitalize this central aspect of the heritage, especially through awareness raising actions and mobilization of all the stakeholders at the local community level by ensuring an appropriate communication in this respect.

Nevertheless, in addition to the continuing unstable security situation, the impact of climate change has become a cause of major concern, generating hard winters and increasingly frequent and violent sandstorms. A dialogue with the local actors would appear to be necessary to study the measures and needs to be undertaken in the future to respond to this phenomenon and its impacts.

Finally, it should be noted that in application of the conviction by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Admad Al Faqi Al Mahdi for his responsibility in the destruction of several cultural properties in Timbuktu, in particular several mausoleums as well as the sacred door of the Sidi Yahia mosque, a ceremony to award a symbolic euro to the Government of Mali and to UNESCO for the damage suffered by the Malian people and the community of Timbuktu took place on 30 March 2021. On 27 September 2016, Mr. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison and the payment of 2.7 million euros in reparation to victims, following which individual and collective reparation began in January 2021. While appreciating the outcome of this procedure, it will be important to ensure that the potential impacts of these repairs and the actions to be carried out within the framework of collective reparations, representing a total amount of 428,000 euros, be taken into account in future reports on the state of conservation of the property.

In the light of all these issues, and taking account of the sanitary conditions, it is recommended that the Committee maintain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.