Decision 44 COM 7A.40

Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (Côte d’Ivoire/Guinea) (N 155bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7A.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 43 COM 7A.6 adopted at its 43rd session (Baku, 2019),
3. Commends the States Parties for their efforts in strengthening transboundary cooperation which has resulted in the establishment of a joint ecological monitoring system and the organization of joint surveillance patrols, and encourages them to strengthen this cooperation to reduce the current threats to the property and continue efforts to improve the monitoring of species characteristic of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and to finalize a management plan for the entire property;
4. Welcomes the discovery in 2021 of a new endemic species of bat, Myotis nimbaensis, thus demonstrating the strong endemism of the site;
5. Appreciates the support of donors, in particular the European Commission, the Government of China Funds for the safeguarding of World Heritage in Africa, the German Commission for UNESCO and technical partners for their support for the conservation of the property, and requests the States Parties of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea to ensure that these various projects / programmes prioritize the implementation of corrective measures;
6. Recalls the importance of having a functional buffer zone (or an equivalent measure) around the property in Côte d’Ivoire, and also requests the State Party of Côte d’Ivoire to designate such an area following the Guidelines procedures, and to strengthen the monitoring of community forests around the property, while ensuring that their management objectives are compatible with the management of the property, and to submit as soon as possible the updated high resolution map of the boundaries of the property to the World Heritage Centre;
7. Further requests the State Party of Guinea to provide detailed information on the measures taken to mitigate the impacts caused by the asphalting of the Danané-Lola road, which crosses the buffer zone of the property in its Guinean area in accordance with provisions of the environmental and social management plan on the impacts of the project;
8. Takes note of the resumption of the activities of the proposed mining project of the iron deposit of Mount Nimba by the Société des mines de fer de Guinée (SMFG), as well as of its willingness to carry out an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) of the proposed project in accordance with the IUCN Advice Note on World Heritage and submit it to an independent technical review, and reiterates its request to the State Party to ensure that:
   1. The ESIA will be carried out in accordance with the highest international standards, subject to independent and expert assessment, and in close consultation with all key stakeholders,
   2. The ESIA qualifies and quantifies the potential effects of the project on the OUV of the property, at each phase of its cycle, including construction and operation, taking into account the synergistic and collateral impacts also linked to on-site transformation of the ore and its transport, as well as the socio-economic changes to be expected,
   3. The ESIA should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN before any decision to approve the project and the issuance of a certificate of environmental compliance to the Company;
9. Reiterates its deep concern regarding the issuance of an environmental compliance certificate and an operating permit to Zali Mining SA (ex West Africa Exploration) for the mining block immediately adjacent to the property, in the absence of appropriate ESIA, and urges the State Party of Guinea to confirm the cancellation of this environmental compliance certificate and the granted operating permit, and that the ESIA will be undertaken in accordance with the IUCN Advice Note on World Heritage before any decision to approve the project;
10. Expressing its deepest concern about the proliferation of mining permits around the property, in particular the granting of a new exploration mining permit to the company Gui-Appro, and the potential cumulative impacts of mining on the OUV of the property, requests furthermore the State Party of Guinea to not grant any new exploration or mining permits around the property without carrying out a Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment and submitting it for prior consideration to the World Heritage Centre and for examination by IUCN in order to assess the impacts, including synergistic ones, of these projects;
11. Reiterates its position that mining exploration or exploitation is incompatible with World Heritage status, a policy supported by the position statement of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) not to undertake such activities in World Heritage properties;
12. Takes note of the submission by States Parties of a proposal for a Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) developed during the 2019 mission and updated in 2021, and further notes that this document will be reviewed by IUCN in collaboration with the World Heritage Centre for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 45th session;
13. Finally requests the States Parties to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2022, an updated joint 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;
14. Decides to retain the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.