Decision 46 COM 7B.23

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

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7B.Add.3,
2. Recalling Decisions 44 COM 7B.9 and 45 COM 7B.129 adopted at its extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) and extended 45th (Riyadh, 2023) sessions respectively,
3. Notes the recommendations presented by the 2023 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission, and requests that the State Party implement these recommendations in combination with previous Committee decisions and the recommendations of the 2015 ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission;
4. Also notes that the process to revise the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) was delayed by the extended timeline for the completion of the 2023 Reactive Monitoring mission report and that the former Conservation Strategy remains in force, and requests that the State Party submit the updated CMP to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
5. Expresses its concern at the reports of encroachment into the buffer zone of the property and encourages the State Party to:
   1. Prepare detailed maps of the property and its buffer zone for use in the management of the property,
   2. Clearly demarcate the boundaries of the property and its buffer zone in the physical landscape;
6. Also recalling that the ecological restoration of the primary forest of the property was identified as a principal management goal at the time of inscription and also encourages the State Party to:
   1. Review past measures for the ecological restoration of the primary forest as part of the process of the revision of the CMP,
   2. Implement measures to reverse encroachment into the buffer zone and reduction in the primary forest since the time of inscription;
7. Welcomes the State Party’s report that the Osun River is not polluted, that action against illegal mining in the region is ongoing, that clean-up actions have been undertaken and that further water quality tests will be undertaken and, also requests that testing be undertaken on a regular basis, and that the outcomes of past and future tests be shared with the World Heritage Centre;
8. Further notes the ongoing discussions regarding the allocation of funding from the annual festival for the conservation of the property and the relocation of the tarmac road from the property and further encourages the State Party to proceed with these discussions with urgency and with the ambition to report to their successful conclusion in its next state of conservation report and to submit details of the alignment of the proposed road, the design of the bridge and plans for downgrading the existing road with the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before entering into contracts for their implementation;
9. Also welcomes the documentation process of material maintenance and repairs, considers that reconstruction of sculptures created by Susanne Wenger undermines the authenticity of the property, and reiterates its request to refrain from carrying out any non-urgent work on restoration of the sculptures and to halt all reconstruction until a revised conservation methodology and phased conservation plan has been prepared and submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
10. Further welcomes the development of a Conservation Strategy of the sculptural elements of the property, funded through the Kingdom of the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust, and further requests that the Conservation Strategy:
    1. Aims to maintain the authenticity of the sculptures of Austrian artist Susanne Wenger over time by giving preference to the application of appropriate conservation methods and materials that halt or slow down processes of decay to avoid replication or reconstruction,
    2. Includes a detailed inventory of all the 20th century sculptures that sets out their form at the time of inscription and any changes since,
    3. Be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before any further work is undertaken;
11. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2025, 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 48th session.