1. Having examined Document WHC-04/7 EXT.COM/5A, 
2. Recalling its Decision 25 COM VII.25-27 at its 25th session (Helsinki, 2001)  to examine at its 29th session (Durban, 2005), the Periodic Report for North America, 
3. Notes the report on the progress of such Periodic Report.

1. Having examined Document WHC-04/7 EXT.COM/5B,
2. Recalling its Decisions 24 COM VII.1-4 and 27 COM 20B.I, adopted at its 24th session (Cairns, 2000) and its 27th session (UNESCO, 2003), respectively,
3. Takes note of the progress made in the implementation of the Regional Programme for the Arab States and in responding to the priority needs identified in the Periodic Report for the Arab States;
4. Thanks the Dutch Government for supporting the publication of such Periodic Report;
5. Requests the Director of the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to continue developing the Assistance Modules, as well as projects, as part of the strategy outlined in the Regional Programme, and to consult the concerned States Parties in the process;
6. Further requests the World Heritage Centre to report at its 30th session (2006) on the outcome of the Regional Meeting foreseen in 2005 – with particular attention to the review of the Assistance Modules and the mobilization of extra-budgetary resources for their implementation.

1. Reiterates its serious concern for the state of conservation of Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park and the need for increased international support and co-operation, including that between the Central African Republic, Chad and Sudan;

2. Notes that the State Party has provided a revised Emergency Rehabilitation Plan and has invited the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to undertake a mission to evaluate the state of conservation of the property;

3. Requests the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, in consultation with the State Party, to undertake a mission to assess the state of conservation of the property, including the review of the implementation of the Emergency Rehabilitation Plan and to submit recommendations for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 29th session in 2005. This mission should include the organization of a stakeholder meeting to develop a major programme of action and fundraising strategy for the conservation of the property. The State Party may wish to seek international assistance for the organization of this meeting;

4. Recommends that the State Party and the World Heritage Centre cooperate to enable the start of the implementation of the Emergency Rehabilitation Plan;

5. Invites the State Party to cooperate with the World Heritage Centre, IUCN, the "Conservation et Utilisation rationelle des Ecosystèmes Forestiers d’Afrique Centrale" (ECOFAC) programme and other conservation agencies and donors

to mobilise the necessary resources to sustain and further develop the activities

foreseen under the revised Emergency Rehabilitation Plan and other activities that may be developed for implementation after the mission;

6. Decides to retain Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Reiterates its concern about the continuing insecurity in Côte d'Ivoire and its potential impact on Comoé National Park;

2. Requests the State Party to submit by 1 February 2005, a report on the state of conservation of the property and the impacts of the conflict on the integrity of the property and its World Heritage values for examination by the Committee at its 29th session in 2005;

3. Thanks the State Party for inviting the joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN mission and recommends that the mission to the property take place as soon as the security situation permits. It should review the state of conservation of the property and develop an emergency rehabilitation plan that would include benchmarks for removing the property from the List of World Heritage in danger as requested at the 27th session;

4. Decides to retain Comoé National Park on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families of the park staff who lost theirlives in trying to protect the World Heritage properties;

2. Commends "Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature" (ICCN) andespecially its dedicated field staff, UNESCO and its partners in the project“Biodiversity Conservation in Regions of Armed Conflict” for their on-goingefforts to protect the integrity and the World Heritage values of the properties;Decisions adopted at the 28th session of the World Heritage WHC-04/28 COM/26, p.52 Committee (Suzhou, 2004)

3. Expresses its satisfaction that the installation of the DRC Transition Governmentand the deployment of United Nations Organisation Mission in the DemocraticRepublic of Congo (MONUC) around some of the properties has put an end to any of the hostilities in and around the 5 World Heritage properties and hasenabled the management authority ICCN to regain control of parts of some of the properties;

4. Reiterates its serious concern about the continuing threats to the properties, especially encroachment and extraction of natural resources, including mining,with the consent of local political or military authorities and the poaching andivory trafficking by armed groups, including former rebel troops that areawaiting demobilisation or integration in the national army;

5. Expresses special concern on the sudden upsurge in poaching in the GarambaNational Park by Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) fighters which is threatening with extinction the last population of the northern white rhino;

6. Urges the Transition Government of DRC to take all necessary steps to restorethe integrity of the properties, especially of the Virunga and Kahuzi-Biega National Parks, by taking urgent measures to evacuate all illegal settlements and halt all illegal resource extraction;

7. Also urges the Transition Government of DRC to pull all military positions, including former rebel troops awaiting demobilization or integration in thenational army, out of the 5 World Heritage properties and station them atsufficient distance from the properties and requests MONUC to pay particular attention to the demobilization and disarmament of armed groups inside and inthe immediate vicinity of the properties;

8. Requests the Director General of UNESCO to use UN and other appropriate diplomatic channels to influence high level SPLA officials, urging them to puta halt to the poaching by their fighters as well as an immediate retreat of SPLAtroops from the vicinity of the Garamba National Park;

9. Commends the Director-General of UNESCO for the organization of the highlevel conference on the conservation of the DRC World Heritage properties inSeptember 2004 and invites all State Parties to the World Heritage Convention,as well as international donor agencies, foundations and the private sector to support this initiative and post-conference rehabilitation of the five WorldHeritage properties;

10. Invites the World Heritage Centre to intensify its co-operation with the related Conventions, e.g. the Convention on the International Trade in EndangeredSpecies (CITES) and other relevant UN bodies for the conservation of theproperties;

11. Requests the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, in consultation with the StateParty, to undertake a mission to Virunga, Kahuzi-Biega and Garamba NationalParks, and the Okapi Faunal Reserve to assess their current state of conservation and submit a report for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 29thsession in 2005;

12. Requests the Director-General of UNESCO to contact urgently the President of Rwanda to request information on the deforestation in the Mikeno sector of theVirunga National Park, which is allegedly reported to be occurring with thesupport of military commanders of the Rwanda Defence Forces and to invite the Government of Rwanda to cooperate with the Transition Government of DRC inthis regard and respect the integrity of the Property;

13. Decides to retain the Garamba, Salonga, Kahuzi Biega and Virunga National Parks and the Okapi Wildife Reserve on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Commends the Austrian Government for its support to the property through the Simien Mountains National Park Integrated Development Project;

2. Reiterates its request to the State Party to provide by 1 February 2005, a report on the state of conservation of the property for examination by the Committee at its 29th session in 2005, specifically on progress made in relation to the benchmarks set by the 25th session of the Committee for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger on the following issues:

a) realignment of the Park’s boundary to exclude the villages along the boundary,

b) extension of the Park to include at least Mesarerya and Lemalino Wildlife Reserves,

c) significant and sustainable reduction in the human population density within the Park, especially within the core area,

d) Effective conservation within the extended National Park of a larger population of Walia ibex and Simien Fox;

3. Decides to retain Simien National Park on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Recommends to the States Parties of Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Liberia that they follow up on the decisions and recommendations of the tri-national meeting held in N’Zérékoré (12-15 February 2002) to increase transboundary
co-operation and inform the World Heritage Centre on progress achieved; 

2. Requests the State Party of Guinea to provide more detailed information on the expected restarting of the exploration studies in the mining enclave for which the concession rights were acquired by the Euronimba consortium, including relevant information on the potential impacts to the integrity of the property;

3. Requests the State Party of Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea to submit by 1 February 2005 a report on the impact of hostilities on the conservation status of the property for examination by the Committee at its 29th session in 2005;

4. Invites the State Party of Liberia to assess the feasibility of having the States Parties of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea extend the property boundary to their border with Liberia as part of its work to prepare a tentative list of properties for nomination on the World Heritage List;

5. Decides to retain the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Reiterates its concern that no report was provided by the State Party on the theft of the vehicles provided with financial assistance from the World Heritage Fund and on progress made in the implementation of the rehabilitation plan;

2. Urges the State Party to provide this report as soon as possible but no later than 1 December 2004;

3. Decides that, in the event that the State Party fails to make available such a report to the Committee, it will consider taking the necessary measures;

4. Also urges the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to undertake as soon as possible the planned monitoring mission to the property to carry out a systematic assessment as requested at the 27th session and submit its findings for consideration by the Committee at its 29th session in 2005;

5. Decides to retain Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Requests the World Heritage Centre and IUCN in co-operation with the State Party and the IUCN invasive species specialist group, to undertake a mission to the property to: assess the level of threat posed by they proliferation of Typha australis and other invasive aquatic species; assess the other problems reported by the State Party, namely the growing salinity and silting up of the rivers, and; advise on required actions and possible benchmarks and timeframes for removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger and submit recommendations for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 29th session in 2005;

2. Decides to retain Djoudj Bird Sanctuary on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Congratulates the State Party for successfully addressing most of the recommendations of the IUCN/World Heritage Centre mission and for the work undertaken to maintain the integrity of the property despite the difficult socio-economic and political situation faced by the country in recent years;

2. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre a copy of the General Management Plan as soon as it is approved by the Board of Trustees of Uganda Wildlife Authority and a map indicating the precise surveyed and marked boundary as soon as the activity to retrace and delineate the border is completed;

3. Further requests the State Party to submit a report by 1 February, 2005 on the progress in the implementation of the General Management Plan, the preparation and implementation of a Tourism Strategy for the property, the demarcation of the boundaries, the removal of mines from the property and measures taken to enhance the human and financial resources required for the effective management of the property for consideration by the World Heritage Committee at its 29th session in 2005;

4. Encourages the State Party to work with UNESCO, IUCN and the DRC protected area authority to develop trans-boundary co-operation with the Virunga National Park and other World Heritage properties of the Democratic Republic of Congo;

5. Decides to remove Rwenzori Mountains National Park from the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Commends the State Party for the dynamic way in which it has begun the implementation of the 2003 workshop recommendations that set out the benchmarks for a possible removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger, in particular monitoring, restoration of the water control structures and releases of fresh water from the dams;

2. Reiterates its request to the State Party to acknowledge that the Ichkeul National Park is considered as a “net consumer of water” and to confirm its commitment to an average annual release of 80 to 120 million cubic metres of water into the lake depending on the need as determined through the monitoring programme;

3. Invites the State Party to implement the outstanding recommendations of the 2003 workshop, in particular the creation of an autonomous and permanent management structure and the preparation of a participatory management plan;

4. Requests the State Party to submit, by 1 February 2005, a report on the progress achieved in the implementation the recommendations of the 2003 mission and on the monitoring of the recovery of the property towards the benchmarks and indicators set by that mission, for examination by the Committee at its 29th session in 2005;

5. Decides to retain the Ichkeul National Park on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Congratulates the State Party and welcomes its commitment to co-operate with national and international partners to raise financing for World Heritage conservation in India;

2. Commends the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and its partners for committing financial support for World Heritage conservation in India including support to Manas Wildlife Sanctuary;

3. Recommends the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to fully co-operate with the State Party, UNF and other national and international partners to begin activities benefiting Manas Wildlife Sanctuary as soon as possible;

4. Requests the World Heritage Centre and IUCN in co-operation with the State Party to undertake a mission to the property to assess the security situation and ecological conditions and submit recommendations for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 29th session in 2005;

5. Decides to retain Manas Wildlife Sanctuary on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

1. Notes the detailed report provided by the State Party and acknowledges its efforts to achieve progress on the different programmes to restore and conserve this property;

2. Commends the State Party for its co-operation with the State of Florida and local governments in the development of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and the Everglades Forever Act which taken together will restore the natural hydrological system, will meet the water supply and flood control needs of the adjacent municipalities, and will reduce the phosphorous levels in agricultural return flows to ensure water quality compliance;

3. Congratulates the State Party and the cooperators for their actions to restore hydrological regimes, to reduce phosphorous levels in return flows, to stabilize the populations of endangered species, and to appropriate US$ 8.3 Billion to accomplish these tasks;

4. Invites the World Heritage Centre and IUCN in co-operation with the State Party to describe the steps and identify the benchmarks and indicators to monitor progress in the restoration of the property in view of facilitating the Committee’s future consideration for possible removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger;

5. Requests the State Party to submit by 1 February 2005 an updated report on the progress made in the restoration and conservation of the property for examination by the Committee at its 29th session in 2005;

6. Decides to retain Everglades National Park on the List of World Heritage in Danger.