Decision 42 COM 7B.98

Banc d'Arguin National Park (Mauritania) (N 506)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.85, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Warmly welcomes the efforts made by the State Party to implement the decisions of the Committee and the recommendations of the 2014 Reactive Monitoring mission and requests the State Party to continue these efforts;
4. Also warmly welcomes the establishment and strengthening of a permanent concertation committee that includes the administrative and municipal, and regional and communal authorities, as well as the measures undertaken to protect the threatened species, notably the commitment of the State Party to set up by 2020, the strict interdiction of shark and ray fishing and requests the State Party to continue monitoring pressure on fishing, both inside and outside the property, to ensure the sustainability and conservation of its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
5. Equally welcomes the organization of the PSSA national stakeholder working meeting, thanks the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for its support, and encourages the State Party to pursue, in cooperation with IMO, the finalization of the technical feasibility study of a potential PSSA designation before submitting a final application dossier;
6. Takes note of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on the oil exploitation project (seismic study) of Block C7 adjacent to the property and its conclusion that no direct impact has been detected within the property and also requests the State Party:
   1. to ensure the enforcement of mitigation measures to avoid all indirect impact on the OUV of the property during the exploration phase of the project,
   2. to undertake a new EIA in the event that the State Party progresses to the exploitation phase, and this before the potential work, taking into account the ocean currents that tend to pull the deep offshore waters back into the Gulf d’Arguin,
   3. to submit the said EIA to the World Heritage Centre as soon as it is available for examination by IUCN;
7. Takes into account the location of the pumping fields for the Tasiast mine less than 5 km from the boundary of the property and the fact that the EIA for the mine extension project did not include any evaluation of the impacts on the OUV of the property, further requests the State Party to revise this EIA to evaluate the impacts of the projects on the OUV of the property, prior to any possibly irreversible decisions taken, in conformity with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines and with the IUCN World Heritage Advice Notice and Environmental Evaluation;
8. Also takes note of the launching, foreseen during 2018, of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the town of Chami, and reiterates its request to the State Party to ensure that, in addition to the SEA, prior to any development in the town of Chami, a rigorous EIA be carried out and submitted for approval to the Banc d’Arguin National Park (PNBA);
9. Expresses its concern as to the relocation project for the villages threatened by the effects of climate change, the implementation of which is foreseen in 2018, in the framework of the Mauritanian Coastal Area Management and Development Plan (PDALM), and also urges the State Party to provide detailed information concerning this project;
10. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre by 1 December 2019, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020.