Decision 45 COM 7B.129

Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove (Nigeria) (C 1118)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7B.9 adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
3. Welcomes the collaborative project between The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, CyArk, The Adunni Olorisa Trust (AOT) and Google Art & Culture, to digitally document the forty shrines and artworks within the property, and requests the State Party to ensure that the digital documentation is supported by detailed information on the shrines and artworks in terms of materials, interventions related to their maintenance and repair, and changes over time;
4. Also welcomes the revision of the Management Plan and requests the State Party to submit it for review by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to allow for an understanding of how it has addressed the various recommendations of the Committee over many years, as well as recommendations from the 2015 Reactive Monitoring mission, including those that still remain to be addressed;
5. Notes the commitment of the Ataoja-in-Council to share revenue from the annual Osun festival for the conservation of the property, and requests the State Party to provide details of this agreement and how it will be implemented to ensure that the festival sustainably supports the Sacred Grove on which it is based;
6. Also notes the intention to prepare plans for a new bridge to allow the diversion of the current road to the outskirts of the property, and requests the State Party to submit details of the alignment of the proposed road, the design of the bridge and plans for downgrading the existing road;
7. Expresses concern that the waters of the sacred Osun River remain polluted and continue to be used by devotees of the annual Osun Festival and that insufficient actions have been taken to control activities upstream in order to improve water quality to an acceptable level, and reiterates its request to the State Party to take concrete steps, together with traditional religious leaders, to avoid the use of the water by festival participants;
8. Further expresses concern at the alarming recent reports that link pollution to illegal and legal gold mining upstream, and requests the State Party to submit details of the most recent water analyses as soon as they are available as well as plans to address the causes of pollution;
9. Further notes the State Party’s continued use of cement in the repair of sculptures and expresses concern that an appropriate methodology for the conservation of sculptures has not been put in place which avoids the use of cement as this will ultimately lead to the recreation of sculptures and damage to the authenticity of the property, and reiterates its request to the State Party to develop a Conservation Strategy for the property, as recommended by the 2015 mission, that will be adapted to the specificities of each of the sculptures and to submit this for review by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies before any further work is undertaken;
10. Also expresses regrets that the State Party did not alert the World Heritage Centre to the collapse of the large Busanyin shrine as a result of flooding in 2019, and that no details are provided on immediate actions to protect its remains, put in place measures to document, restore the shrine and mitigate flooding, while information available online indicates that support from the United States of America has recently allowed the remains to be digitally documented, and that a Master Plan is to be drawn up for the restoration of the shrine and for flood protection measures, and requests the State Party to submit details of the Master Plan to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before approval is given.
11. Considers that the sacred shrines, river and natural forest that make up the Osogbo Sacred Grove all remain extremely fragile and that the protection and management regimes are currently inadequate to address the key threats to the property that were known at the time of inscription, have been addressed by the Reactive Monitoring mission of 2015 and have been set out in several Committee decisions, and further considers that this fragility is exemplified by the collapse of the large Busanyin shrine and the lack of immediate actions to protect its remains or to put in place measures to mitigate flooding, by the lack of a Conservation Strategy, and by the continued pollution of the sacred Osun River, all of which pose threats to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
12. Takes note with satisfaction that the State Party has invited a joint World Heritage Centre/ICCROM/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property scheduled to take place in mid-2023 to address these concerns, which will formulate recommendations for actions to be taken in order to tackle the numerous challenges the property is facing;
13. Also 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 on the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session, considering that the urgent conservation needs of this property require a broad mobilization to preserve its OUV, including the possible inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger.