Decision 43 COM 7B.32

Comoé National Park (Côte d'Ivoire) (N 227)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7A.35, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Warmly welcomes the efforts undertaken by the State Party in the operationalization of the ecological monitoring system with support from the technical and financial partners, notes with satisfaction the strengthening of cooperation between the Ivorian Office for Parks and Reserves and the research institutions and encourages the State Party to continue its efforts;
4. Welcomes with satisfaction the significant progress by the State Party as regards the improvement of its surveillance mechanism, law enforcement, active involvement of local communities in the management of the property, as well as the necessary additional measures foreseen to reinforce human capacities and techniques to combat gold- panning, and requests the State Party to continue its efforts to eradicate systematically gold panning inside the property;
5. Notes with satisfaction the efforts undertaken by the State Party to eradicate intrusion of livestock inside the property, reduce conflicts between farmers/stock breeders, the rehabilitation of some degraded areas, the improvement of income for producers and thus limit the extension of cashew plantations, and also encourages the State Party to continue its efforts;
6. Notes the confirmation by the State Party that no mining project is currently being exploited in the immediate periphery of the property, as well as the assurance that the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of all future mining projects or other infrastructure development projects will take into account the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, and reiterates its request to the State Party to ensure that the ESIA reports of all the future projects be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN;
7. Also requests the State Party to provide additional information concerning the potential and/or foreseen mining activities in the periphery of the property, such as mining concessions already granted;
8. Notes with concern that following the procedure to define the boundaries, the surface of the Park has been reduced from 1,150,000 ha to 1,148,756 ha, and further requests the State Party to provide fuller information on the revised boundaries, and in particular maps clearly showing the changes in respect of the boundaries of the inscribed property;
9. 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.