Decision 44 COM 7B.82

Lake Malawi National Park (Malawi) (N 289)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 38 COM 7B.92 and 42 COM 7B.93 adopted at its 38th (Doha, 2014) and 42nd (Manama, 2018) sessions, respectively,
3. Welcomes the finalization of the Management Plan and development of a fish monitoring protocol as well as the enhanced patrol efforts in and around the property;
4. Notes with concern however, that the threats facing the property are continuing and requests the State Party to secure and allocate additional funds to ensure the full implementation of the Management Plan and provide detailed information on management activities;
5. Takes note of the information provided on the cancellation of oil exploration block 4 overlapping with the property, and also requests the State Party to confirm that no further oil exploration activities will be permitted in this block;
6. Expresses its utmost concern for the continuation of oil exploration activities in blocks 2 and 3 covering a large part of Lake Malawi, which pose a potentially severe risk to the lake ecosystem and the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, and further requests the State Party to provide more details on the status of these exploration activities and to ensure that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), developed in accordance with the highest international standards and in line with the IUCN World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment, is submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN before exploratory drilling is permitted;
7. Requests furthermore the State Party to provide further details of the proposed new tourism facilities at Cape Maclear, and ensure an EIA is conducted in line with the IUCN World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment and submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN before any decision is taken;
8. Regrets that no monitoring data has been submitted to determine the state of conservation of key species and reiterates its request to the State Party to provide up-to-date and scientifically verifiable monitoring data;
9. Also expresses its concern on the potential impacts by industrial and illegal artisanal fishing methods on fish stocks in the lake and on the OUV of the property and notes the importance of moving towards more sustainable fishing practices in the entire lake to ensure the long-term protection of the OUV;
10. Thanks the African Development Bank and the governments of the Netherlands and Norway for their financial support to the property;
11. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to examine, in consultation with the States Parties of Mozambique and the United Republic of Tanzania, the feasibility of establishing a buffer zone and extending the boundaries of the property to strengthen its integrity, which also takes into consideration the new Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) designations;
12. Requests moreover the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to assess its state of conservation in relation to the fisheries and tourism management, law enforcement, wildlife monitoring, oil exploration and to explore the possibility of including the new KBAs as an extension to the property;
13. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 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 46th session.