VII.7 Mount Nimba Nature Reserve (Guinea/ Côte d'Ivoire)
The Committee, at its last session (Naples, 1997), had requested the State Party (Guinea) and the Centre to contact the relevant mining companies, which foresee the exploitation of an iron-ore mine in the vicinity of the Reserve, in order to learn more details of their interest to set up an international foundation for the conservation of Mt. Nimba. The Committee was informed of a letter dated 20 September 1998, from the Permanent Executive Secretary of the MAB National Committee for Guinea informing the Centre that the Nimba Mining Company (NIMCO) has been dissolved by the Government and no other enterprise has been created to replace it.
The Committee noted that the establishment of a foundation or a trust fund for the conservation of Mt. Nimba appears increasingly unlikely in the immediate future. The Committee agreed with IUCN's observation that on-site information on the state of conservation of Mt. Nimba had not been updated for about three years. It accepted IUCN's offer to request its Regional Office for West Africa in Burkina Faso to undertake a mission, at the invitation of States Parties concerned, in order to prepare a state of conservation report for submission to the twenty-third session of the Committee. The Committee decided to retain Mt. Nimba in the List of World Heritage in Danger.