Decision 43 COM 7B.30

Sangha Trinational (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo) (N 1380rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 39 COM 7B.2 and 41 COM 7B.19, adopted at its 39th (Bonn, 2015) and 41st (Krakow, 2017) sessions respectively,
3. Commends the States Parties for further strengthening their collaborative efforts through the allocation of increased financial and human resources to combat poaching, illegal mining and logging within the property and its buffer zones;
4. Notes with utmost concern that poaching, especially of elephants, is persisting within the property and requests the States Parties to further intensify their law enforcement efforts on the ground including through transboundary patrols and by following up the judicial process of apprehended poachers;
5. Welcomes the removal of the illegal mining licences in the buffer zone of the Congolese component but notes with concern that three mining licences were awarded by the State Party of Cameroon in the buffer zone and also requests the State Party of Cameroon to take action to ensure their cancellation;
6. To prevent future cases of mining licences being issued in the property or its buffer zones, encourages the States Parties to take a more proactive approach and strengthen information exchange between the mining and conservation departments before granting exploration and/or exploitation permits, and to ensure that a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is undertaken for all mining projects planned in the buffer zone with a specific assessment of the OUV of the property, before allowing any activities to take place;
7. Also welcomes efforts to better involve local communities and to recognize the rights and traditional livelihoods of the indigenous Baka communities, as well as efforts to ensure the respect of human rights by park rangers and urges the States Parties to further strengthen these efforts;
8. Also urges the States Parties to continue their efforts towards certifying the forestry concessions in the buffer zone of the property, and further requests the State Party of the Central African Republic to submit the EIAs for two of the concessions (EPA 189 and 190) to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN, as soon as they are available, ensuring that they are conducted in line with IUCN’s World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment and specifically assess the potential impacts on the OUV of the property;
9. Reiterates its request to the States Parties to design and implement a plan for the ecological restoration of sites degraded by any illegal activity, such as gold mining, advancement of the agricultural frontier, harvesting of non-timber forest products and cutting down of timber;
10. Requests furthermore the States Parties to ensure that the construction of the Ouesso-Bangui road does not start until the EIA has been completed and submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN;
11. Requests moreover, the States Parties to continue implementing all of the recommendations of the 2016 Reactive Monitoring mission;
12. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2020, 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 45th session in 2021.