Decision 44 COM 7A.42

Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (N 137)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7A,
2. Recalling Decision 43 COM 7A.8, adopted at its 43rd session (Baku, 2019),
3. Welcomes the improved security situation and continued collaboration between the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN), the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and local authorities, which has resulted in a significant increase in patrol coverage of the property, meeting for the first time the 60% corrective measure threshold;
4. Notes with satisfaction the reported closing down of all remaining artisanal mining activities throughout the property and considers that this is a major achievement and, if maintained over a longer period, would be a major step towards restoring the integrity of the property;
5. Notes the State Party’s continued efforts to address poaching and trafficking in the property, and requests it to provide, in its future reports, more data on the results of anti-poaching activities;
6. Also welcomes the efforts for peaceful conflict resolution with the communities, in particular the indigenous Batwa, notes however the concerns raised by the indigenous Batwa about the delays in the implementation of the recommendations resulting from the 2019 Bukavu Dialogue, and also requests the State Party to address this issue as a priority in full consultation with the Batwa community, in line with the Policy on the integration of a sustainable development perspective into the processes of the World Heritage Convention;
7. Reiterates its request for the State Party to provide details on the status of the ecological corridor and to develop a rehabilitation plan for the ecological corridor to facilitate the regeneration of natural vegetation and to submit to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN, all information, including maps, to assess the impact of encroachment on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
8. Thanks the donors, in particular the Governments of Germany and Norway which continue to provide support for the conservation of the property;
9. Expresses concern about the increasing pressure of encroachment in the property and urges the State Party to address this as a matter of priority;
10. Further requests the State Party to urgently provide an update on the status of wildlife inventories, and also reiterates its requests to the State Party to submit the results of the wildlife inventory to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN, and to finalize, in cooperation with the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, indicators for the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR), once the results of the wildlife inventory are available;
11. Also urges the State Party to continue the implementation of the corrective measures, as updated by the 2017 mission;
12. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2022, 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;
13. Decides to continue the application of the Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism;
14. Also decides to retain Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.