Case Law

The World Heritage Committee

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.5, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Reiterates its concern over oil exploration activities throughout the lake, noting that an accidental spill would pose a potentially severe risk to the integrity of the entire lake ecosystem including the aquatic zone and shoreline of the property
4. Notes that an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for oil exploration in the northern part of the lake is being carried out, and requests the State Party to ensure that this ESIA includes a specific assessment of potential impacts of oil exploration and subsequent exploitation on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, in conformity with IUCN’s World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment;
5. Urges the State Party to cancel the oil exploitation permit which overlaps with the property and reiterates its position that oil, gas and mineral exploration and exploitation are incompatible with World Heritage status;
6. Calls on Surestream and RAKGAS, who have been awarded oil exploration concessions on the lake, to make a commitment to not exploit nor explore for oil or gas in World Heritage properties;
7. Also requests the State Party of Malawi to implement all the recommendations of the 2014 joint UNESCO/IUCN reactive monitoring mission:
   1. Demarcate the boundary of the outer limits of the aquatic zone of the property with floating buoys,
   2. Deploy patrol boats, other equipment and personnel to ensure enforcement of fishing restrictions and other measures aimed at protecting the OUV of the property,
   3. Design and implement an effective monitoring protocol to provide a basis for assessing changes in fish diversity and populations, other fauna, water quality and management parameters that could be used in adapting management interventions for better protection of the property’s OUV,
   4. Closely engage with communities in the village enclaves and in the periphery of the property to develop suitable resource management programmes,
   5. Promote low-impact eco-tourism ventures that comply with appropriate environmental and social impact standards;
8. Also urges the State Party to revise the 2007-2011 management plan for the property, provide an electronic and three printed copies for review by the World Heritage Centre and IUCN as soon as it is available and to ensure that the revised management plan includes provisions for the implementation of the above-mentioned mission recommendations;
9. Encourages the States Parties of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania to collaborate in identifying important localities for the protection of endemic fish and evolutionary processes with a view to incorporating such areas into an extended trans-national serial property, in cooperation with international conservation non-governmental organizations and scientific experts;
10. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.

The World Heritage Committee,

1.   Having examined Document WHC-12/36.COM/7B.Add,

2.   Recalls Decision 35 COM 7B.1 adopted at its 35th session (UNESCO, 2011)

3.   Notes with concern that the State Party has not suspended the GEOVIC mining license, as requested by the Committee at its 34th and 35th sessions, although no activity has begun at the site since the 2009 mission, and that the new environmental impact study submitted to the World Heritage Centre does not meet international standards and does not take into account the presence of the property;

4.   Expresses its deep concern regarding the granting of mining exploration licenses, including one for iron exploration, within the property, the impacts of the Mekin Dam and the rubber plantation on the property, the consequences of which would significantly affect its Outstanding Universal Value and in particular its integrity;

5.   Recalls its position concerning the incompatibility of mining exploration and exploitation with World Heritage status;

6.   Takes note of the conclusion of the joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN mission that the threats and pressures on the property continue to increase affecting its Outstanding Universal Value, and that the management body of the property does not dispose of financial, logistical or human resources to respond to these threats and pressures present inside and at the immediate periphery of the property;

7.   Considers that in view of this accumulation of possible and even imminent threats, the property meets, according to Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines, criteria for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and that the property would possibly be inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger at the 37th session in 2013, if the following conditions are not fulfilled:

a)  Review the limits of the iron exploration license to exclude the area inside the property and to ensure that this has no impact on the Outstanding Universal Value,

b)  Suspend GEOVIC mining work until the completion by the company of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment meeting international standards, before any commencement of exploitation at the site and create a consultation framework with the management body of the property to prepare and implement a biodiversity safeguarding plan supported by adequate resources,

c)  Define, in consultation with Sud Hévéa Cameroun company, the measures to be undertaken to foresee, reduce and compensate the negative effects of the agriculture exploitation project (rubber plantation) on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property,

d)  Suspend the Mekin Dam work until the appropriate measures to mitigate the direct and indirect impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for examination by IUCN;

8.   Urgently requests the State Party to implement the following measures to prevent, the degradation of the Outstanding Universal Value of the property:

a)  Strengthen the human and logistic resources of the management body to enable permanent surveillance and control, under normal conditions, of the land and aquatic parts of the property; to this end motorized transportation, notably aquatic, should be made available to the ecoguards,

b)  Establish the technical and financial means for the effective operation of the monitoring system of large wildlife and enable the creation of a reference data base on the state of conservation of the biodiversity of the property,

c)  Revise and modify the boundary and physical marking of the property and submit a map in the required format to the World Heritage Centre by 1 February 2013;

9.   Requests the State Party to also implement the other recommendations of the joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN mission of 2012;

10.  Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2013, a progress report on the state of conservation of the property, including a detail of progress accomplished in the implementation of the corrective measures and recommendations of the mission, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 37th session in 2013; 

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/7B.Add,

2. Recalling Decision 32 COM 8B.10, adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008),

3. Welcomes the efforts of the State Party, in particular the authorities in New Caledonia, customary owners, NGOs and other stakeholders to improve the management of the property, through the establishment of co-management committees and the Conservatory of Natural Areas (Conservatoire des Espaces Naturels - CEN);

4. Expresses its serious concern about the permits granted to the mining company GEOVIC to explore for cobalt in mineral sands in areas adjacent to the property, considers that exploration and mining in these areas could have significant adverse impacts on the property's Outstanding Universal Value, and recalls that mining activities adjacent to World Heritage properties are incompatible with World Heritage status if these affect their Outstanding Universal Value;

5. Requests the State Party to submit Environmental Impact Assessments for the proposed exploration and possible exploitation of cobalt sands to the World Heritage Centre, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, prior to taking a decision on whether to permit these activities;

6. Also requests the State Party to implement the recommendations from the 2011 IUCN monitoring mission, in particular:

a) Maintain technical, financial and administrative support for the operation and members of the co-management committees to implement relevant decisions and recommendations and enforce legislations,

b) Facilitate the finalization and implementation of the co-management plans, and incorporate appropriate climate change considerations with particular attention to planning, monitoring and disaster risk reduction,

c) Evaluate effectiveness of participatory governance and management responsiveness,

d) Ensure timely response to threats identified and concerns raised relating to risks from mining exploration and exploitation and non-compliance of regulations for the protection of the property;

7. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2013, a report on the state of conservation of the property, including a report on progress achieved by the Conservatory of Natural Areas (CEN) to enhance coordinated management of the entire serial property, progress achieved in the implementation of the IUCN mission recommendations, and an update on the status of GEOVIC's proposals to explore and mine cobalt sands in areas adjacent to the property.