Decision 37 COM 7A.10

Simien National Park (Ethiopia) (N 9)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-13/37.COM/7A.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 36 COM 7A.9 , adopted at its 36th session (Saint-Petersburg, 2012),
3. Welcomes the report by the State Party that the re-gazettal of the Simien Mountains National Park in its revised boundaries is almost completed as well as the efforts to strengthen the management effectiveness of the property and to implement the recommendations of previous monitoring missions;
4. Also welcomes the successful organization of the donor conference and requests the State Party to follow up with the interested donors in order to mobilize the additional funding necessary to implement key outstanding corrective measures, in particular the grazing pressure reduction strategy and alternative livelihoods strategies;
5. Notes with appreciation the support already provided by different donors to assist the State Party with the implementation of the corrective measures, in particular by the Austrian Development Cooperation, Spain and UNDP and renews its call to the International Community to increase the financial support for this effort;
6. Urges the State Party to continue its current efforts to implement the three remaining outstanding corrective measures, as requested by the Committee in its previous decisions, in particular:
   1. finalize the gazettal of the extended park boundaries into national law,
   2. implement an effective grazing reduction strategy,
   3. provide alternative livelihoods for those who currently depend on cultivation and other forms of resource use within the property;
7. Encourages the State Party to request international assistance from the World Heritage Fund to review the Grazing Pressure Reduction Strategy in order to identify priorities for immediate implementation as recommended by the 2009 monitoring mission;
8. Requests the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to provide advice to the State Party on the preparation of a proposal for boundary modification of the World Heritage property once the re-gazettal is completed, to reflect the new boundaries of the National Park and for which financial assistance has been provided from the World Heritage Fund;
9. Recommends that the State Party establish a programme to monitor and report on the six indicators of the Desired state of conservation for removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger to evaluate progress in restoring the ecological integrity and Outstanding Universal Value of the property;
10. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2014 , a report on the state of conservation of the property, in particular on progress accomplished in the implementation of the outstanding corrective measures and the recommendations of the 2009 mission, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 38th session in 2014;
11. Decides to retain the Simien National Park (Ethiopia) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.