Decision 45 COM 7A.10

Lake Turkana National Parks (Kenya) (N 801bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7A.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 38 COM 7B.90, 39 COM 7B.4, 40 COM 7B.80, 42 COM 7B.92 and 44 COM 7A.47 adopted at its 38th (Saint-Petersburg, 2012), 39th (Bonn, 2015), 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 42nd (Manama, 2018), 43rd (Baku, 2019) and extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) sessions respectively,
3. Appreciates the State Party’s continued effort to manage and resource the property through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and reiterates its request to the State Party to guarantee adequate and sustainable resourcing to protect the property and to develop an operation plan as well as a monitoring and evaluation system to implement the Management Plan focused on the preservation of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and including a co-management system agreed with local communities on resource use;
4. Reiterates again its deep regret over the continued lack of a consolidated response by the States Parties of Kenya and Ethiopia to the Committee’s past decisions and urges again the State Party of Ethiopia to provide an urgent update on all planned and current development projects in the Turkana Basin, which could negatively affect the property, and to submit the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Kuraz Sugar Development Project, the Gibe IV (Koysha) dam under construction and the planned Gibe V dam for review by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies;
5. Recalling that a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to assess the cumulative impacts from developments in the Omo-Turkana Basin is crucial to plan for the protection of the property’s OUV and has been pending since 2014, also reiterates its request to the State Party of Kenya to convene as soon as possible, a workshop with participation from the State Party of Ethiopia, the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, to discuss the cumulative impacts of developments in the Omo-Turkana Basin on the property, including a realistic plan and timeframe for the SEA, to identify urgently needed mitigation measures and to finalize the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR), in consideration of the broader UNESCO DSOCR Strategy for Africa and thanks Norway for committing to financially support the process to develop the DSOCR for the property;
6. Notes with utmost concern that failure to mitigate the cumulative impacts of the developments in the Omo-Turkana basin, combined with the pressures from poaching, livestock encroachment and illegal fishing could lead to an erosion and eventual loss of the OUV of the property;
7. Requests the State Party of Kenya to submit to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN, details regarding the progress in implementation of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Omo River-Lake Turkana Basin, of the various state of conservation matters pertaining to the property, highlighting the challenges facing the implementation of the developed strategy;
8. Regrets that no update on the revision of the SEA for the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor Program is provided, and therefore reiterates its request to the State Party to complete as soon as possible the revised SEA, taking into account both individual and cumulative impacts that the Program and its projects may have on the OUV of the property, and that no further components of LAPSSET be implemented until the SEA is completed and submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
9. Also requests the State Party of Kenya to provide an update on the progress in implementing all of the recommendations of the 2020 Reactive Monitoring mission, in particular to:
   1. Develop a site-specific Biodiversity Action Plan to restore wildlife populations in the property back to levels present at the time of inscription of the property,
   2. Conduct a comprehensive scientific study to assess the current impacts of grazing and develop a viable grazing pressure reduction strategy, based on grazing capacities, to address encroachment,
   3. Establish a co-management system with local communities that stipulates clear regulations regarding use of resources in the property and potentially provides payment for environmental services to local communities;
   4. Establish a long-term monitoring system for the collection and analysis of hydrological and limnological data in Lake Turkana to assess the ecological changes to the lake system and the related impact on the OUV of the property,
   5. Develop a national overarching Master Plan for development in and adjacent to Lake Turkana to avoid any negative impacts on the lake system and OUV of the property,
   6. Create a buffer zone to the property, possibly covering the whole lake and other critical terrestrial areas with complementary legal and/or customary restrictions on its use and development;
10. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2024, 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 46th session;
11. Decides to retain Lake Turkana National Parks (Kenya) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.