X.3 Manovo-Gounda-St.Floris National Park (Central African Republic (CAR))
The Committee noted with concern that the President of the State Party has not responded to letters from the Director-General and the Chairperson, transmitting the recommendations of the twenty-second session of the Committee (Kyoto, Japan, 1998), inviting the President's urgent intervention for the preparation of a detailed state of conservation report and a rehabilitation plan for the conservation of the site. IUCN informed the Committee that it has received a report that calls for an urgent project formulation mission to the site. Other reports received from sources external to the State Party indicate continuing decline in the conditions of integrity of the Park. The EU project that started in 1988 was able to arrest some of the deteriorating conditions. But the implementation of that project was interrupted several times and with the final termination of the project due in 1999 the Park may become completely open to poachers. The reports received by the Centre and IUCN call for: (a) demonstration of national political will for the site's protection; (b) launching of a project integrating the management of the Park with the needs of local communities; (c) integrating village community leaders into the management of the Park; and (d) a participatory management regime that combines conservation and sustainable use of the site and the sensitization of national authorities and the local community to the need for such a management regime.
The Committee decided to retain this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee invited the Director-General of UNESCO and the Chairperson of the Committee to write once again to the President of CAR drawing his attention to their letters already sent in 1999 and calling for the President's urgent intervention to ensure protection of the site. The Committee requested UNESCO to collaborate with the Embassy of the CAR in France and urged both UNESCO and IUCN to work through their Offices in Central Africa and the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in the CAR to encourage the relevant authorities in the State Party to invite a Centre/IUCN mission to prepare a detailed state of conservation report and an emergency rehabilitation plan for the site.