Royal Palaces of Abomey

• Absence of a national legislative mechanism for the protection of cultural heritage (issue resolved)
• Major deterioration of almost 50% of the earthen structural components (issue resolved)
• Lack of presentation and interpretation at the site (issue resolved)
• Lack and loss of documentation on the site (issue resolved)
• Lack of sharing of knowledge between site managers and among authorities (issue resolved)
• Need to distinguish between the site museum and the World Heritage site (issue resolved)
• No conservation or safeguarding measures have been undertaken at the site following the 2012 fire 

Total amount granted: USD 450,000 from the Government of Japan and from the Riksantikvaren (Norwegian Cultural Heritage Directorate)

On 31 January 2014, in accordance with Decision 37 COM 7B.46, adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013), the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the Royal Palaces of Abomey, which is available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/323/documents./

The State Party reports that rehabilitation and conservation work has been completed on the Houegbadja Palace (affected by the fire in 2012) and on the northern part of the museum. The first draft of the new management plan was finalized in December 2013 and is being implemented during a transition period of 6 months in order to refine it and finalize the evaluations of the previous management plans. In line with the recommendations made by the joint UNESCO/ICOMOS/ICCROM reactive monitoring mission to the property in December 2012, the State Party has included a chapter on the new reconstruction policy for the property within the new management plan, which divides the property into four categories: museum, interpretation centre, artisan centre and a space for the conservation and promotion of intangible cultural heritage related to the property. Following a one-month training workshop organized by the African World Heritage Fund in February 2013, the State Party has elaborated a Disaster Risk Management Plan for the property. Since then, staff is undergoing ongoing risk preparedness training with the involvement of royal families and local communities in order to support conservation efforts and promote the property.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies consider that a report to the Committee is not necessary at this stage, in order to provide more time to the State Party to evaluate the previous conservation and management plans and to finalize the new conservation and management plan.