Decision 46 COM 7B.47

Ennedi Massif: Natural and Cultural Landscape (Chad) (C/N 1475)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 40 COM 8B.15, 42 COM 7B.64, 44 COM 7B.71 and 45 COM 7B.28 adopted at its 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 42nd (Manama, 2018), extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) and extended 45th (Riyadh, 2023) sessions respectively,
3. Expresses its concern that the State Party has repeatedly provided limited information on the state of conservation of the property and on the actions taken to implement the requests of the Committee at the time of inscription and in subsequent decisions, including its recommendation to the State Party to extend the northern boundaries of the property to include all attributes bearing the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), including the rock art sites, and urges again the State Party to consult with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies before finalizing the proposal for the boundaries of the Natural and Cultural Reserve of Ennedi so as to guarantee that all important areas are included and that an appropriate buffer zone is foreseen, and to submit a request for boundary modification for examination by the World Heritage Committee;
4. Requests that the State Party urgently develop and submit an action plan with a road map for the implementation of past Committee requests and recommendations;
5. Notes that the property continues to be managed through a public-private partnership, and is monitored by a contingent of eco-guards and that stakeholder awareness activities have been undertaken, and encourages the State Party and its partner to continue their efforts, particularly by providing adequate technical and financial resources to ensure the preservation of the OUV of the property;
6. Welcomes that preliminary discussions for the revision of the Management Plan have been initiated, also requests that this process be expedited and reiterates its request that the revised Management Plan provide continuity of management and conservation for the whole property, which meets international standards and includes an operational implementation calendar for all steps needed to achieve this goal and, which clarifies how the responsibilities of the new management system will be integrated with the established traditional management systems; the Management Plan should clearly:
   1. Detail the measures foreseen to address the main potential threats and spell out management operations to conserve World Heritage values,
   2. Include zonation which supports strict protection of the key areas for biodiversity,
   3. Specify the institutional, staffing and budget regime to ensure effective management of the property,
   4. Guarantee the full participation of local communities and of their traditional authorities in the management of the property;
7. Also notes the reported completion of numerous reports, manuals and other studies which could contribute to further document attributes under Criterion (ix), further requests the State Party to submit the completed studies to the World Heritage Centre, and also reiterates its request to:
   1. Establish a detailed botanical inventory of the site, to identify all important refugia and areas for relict flora to further document the attributes of the property supporting Criterion (ix),
   2. Present more details on the status of biodiversity, including flagship species such as the relic crocodile population, including its genetic viability;
8. Appreciates the efforts to reintroduce flagship wildlife species which had disappeared from the property as a result of poaching, and requests the State Party to provide more information on these efforts, including on the strategy to re-establish viable populations in the property;
9. Further notes that no other vandalism of rock art has been reported at the property since 2017;
10. Further requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to assess the state of conservation of the property and progress made in the implementation of all Committee requests and recommendations since inscription in 2016, including functioning of the management system and update of the management plan, report on the damage due to vandalism of the rock art at Fada in 2017, the need to further document attributes under Criterion (ix), and establishing a zonation system which supports strict protection of the key areas for biodiversity ;
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.