Decision 45 COM 7A.3

Manovo Gounda St. Floris National Park (Central African Republic) (N 475)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7A.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 43 COM 7A.5 and 44 COM 7A.39 adopted respectively at its 43rd session (Baku, 2019) and extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
3. Recalling in particular its decision in 2019 to grant four years to the State Party to demonstrate whether it is possible to restore the integrity of the property and to collect additional data on the state of fauna to allow an assessment of whether regeneration of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) is still achievable,
4. Welcomes the significant progress made by the State Party and its partners in implementing the recommendations of the 2019 joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission and the decisions of the World Heritage Committee, in particular the reinforced surveillance within the delimited priority conservation area (hard core), efforts to better control transhumance, limit poaching and inventory the residual fauna of the property;
5. Notes with satisfaction the confirmation of the presence of a relict population of flagship species such as the savannah elephant, giraffe, lion, Derby eland and bongo, nurturing the hope that a regeneration of the property's Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) is still possible, and calls on the State Party and its partners to continue their efforts to monitor and secure the property;
6. Noting that a data collection campaign has been underway since December 2022 to carry out a faunal inventory of the property, reiterates its request to the State Party to transmit updated data on the state of the fauna to the World Heritage Centre as soon as possible for review by IUCN;
7. Thanks the European Union, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Lion Recovery Fund for their support in preserving the values of the property and in particular the Government of Norway for its significant funding through the World Heritage Centre, which has enabled monitoring and management operations in the property with the aim of avoiding the loss of its OUV, and encourages States Parties to the Convention and public and private donors to support the efforts of the State Party and the partner Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for the effective management of the property and the implementation of the emergency plan;
8. Notes with concern the persistence of intensive poaching, illegal gold mining and international transhumance, and urges the State Party to strengthen control and law enforcement measures against these illegal activities and to continue advocacy for the implementation of existing regional agreements on the fight against poaching and other cross-border criminal activities, as well as those relating to peace, reconciliation and social cohesion;
9. Also requests the State Party to assess the negative impacts caused by the various past and ongoing illegal activities, particularly in the priority conservation area, and to undertake the necessary restoration activities to allow the recovery of wildlife populations;
10. Takes note of the confirmation of the suspension of petroleum exploration activities since 2012 and the State Party's proposal to organize a field mission including representatives of the Ministry of Geology and Mines to definitively clarify the situation of petroleum Block A and exploration Blocks I, II, III, and again reiterates its request to the State Party to avoid any petroleum and mining exploration activities within the boundaries of the property, in accordance with national legislation and the World Heritage status of the property;
11. Notes with concern the influx of illegal armed gold miners and the proliferation of extraction wells in the Gordil – Nda corridor to the east of the property and requests the State Party to provide detailed information on this threat and its potential impacts on the property;
12. Commends the State Party for the decision to bypass the property from the south for the realization of the Ndélé-Birao National Road 8 rehabilitation project, and requests the State Party, with the support of its partners, to finalize the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) of the project in accordance with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, and submit it to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN, before approving the project, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;
13. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2024, 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;
14. Decides to continue the application of the Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism for the property;
15. Also decides to retain Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park (Central African Republic) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.