Decision 46 COM 7B.57

Ivindo National Park (Gabon) (N 1653)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined document WHC/24/46.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 8B.31 adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
3. Noting the cumulative delay in the process of updating the property’s Management Plan due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the political change that occurred on 20 August 2023, welcomes the start of the process in 2023 and requests that the State Party finalize this process as soon as possible, submit the updated Management Plan to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN by 1 February 2025 and ensure that this Plan:
   1. takes into account protection of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, including through biodiversity inventories and a monitoring plan for the biodiversity of its fresh water and Caesalpinioideae forests, as well as strengthening phenological monitoring capacities based on tree fruiting and flowering, as recommended in the 2024 conservation report,
   2. is developed through a fully participatory process, including consultations with local populations, both in the buffer zone and in the region adjacent to the property,
   3. is supported by secure, sufficient and sustainable funding for management of the property;
4. Takes note of the absence of any infrastructure and development project in progress in the area of the property and reminds the State Party that any project planned within the property, its buffer zone or its wider setting should be subject to a specific assessment of the potential impacts on the property’s OUV in accordance with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage context, before decisions are taken that are difficult to reverse;
5. Notes the cumulative delay in the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification process for the three other companies in charge of managing the forest concessions around the property and also requests that the State Party ensure that all forest concessions in the buffer zone of the property are strictly controlled, managed without any significant impact on the property’s OUV and FSC certified, by 2025, as projected by the State Party;
6. Also notes the commitment of the State Party to improve managerial, technical and financial capacities for effective conservation of the property, notably through the appointment of a focal point and the forthcoming activities for renewal of the office of the Local Management Advisory Board, as well as IMET training and assessments, and encourages the State Party to continue its efforts, notably by making sufficient technical and financial resources available to ensure that the property’s OUV is maintained;
7. Also recalls the importance of regular fauna and flora inventories for monitoring key attributes of the property’s OUV, equally welcomes the ongoing fauna inventory as well as the phenological monitoring based on tree fruiting and flowering planned for 2024 and also encourages the State Party to continue its efforts and to ensure that these inventories follow the same methodology over the long term in order to facilitate analysis of fauna and flora population trends within the property;
8. 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 implementation of the above-mentioned points.