Decision 40 COM 7B.17

Sukur Cultural Landscape (Nigeria) (C 938)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B.Add,
2. Notes with deep concern the security situation in North-Eastern Nigeria, in particular the attacks on 12 December 2014 at the Sukur Cultural Landscape;
3. Welcoming the joint efforts of the State Party and local hunters/vigilante groups in weakening insurgents attack operations in the surrounds of the Sukur Cultural Landscape;
4. Commends the Sukur Cultural Landscape community for its resilience to remain steadfast to its traditional life and to restore normalcy in its settlements;
5. Takes note of the urgency to rehabilitate the Hidi Palace, the Palace Square, the Black Smith Homestead, the paved walkways and ritual structures, as well as social, educational and information centres, and to revive intangible cultural heritage practices;
6. Invites the State Party to submit an International Assistance request to support the provision of local building materials for the restoration of the traditional buildings and the desecrated ritual sites and festival grounds, the repair of social and education buildings, and the replacement of stolen or vandalized equipment for the conservation of the property;
7. Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property, in order to assess the state of conservation of the property in relation to its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), in particular, the restored paved stone walkways, the rehabilitation of the Hidi Palace and the Palace Square and the revitalization of the living cultural heritage;
8. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2017, 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 42nd session in 2018.