Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park
Factors affecting the property in 2001*
- Identity, social cohesion, changes in local population and community
- Illegal activities
- Livestock farming / grazing of domesticated animals
- Management systems/ management plan
Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports
- Heavy poaching;
- Lack of management plan;
- Possible transfer of the management of the site to a private foundation
International Assistance: requests for the property until 2001
Total amount approved : 170,000 USD
2001 |
Programme d'urgence pour la réhabilitation du site du ...
(Approved)
Reapproval: 19 Nov, 2004 (n°1743 - 50,000 USD)
|
150,000 USD |
2001 | Project for "Long-term Conservation of the ... (Approved) | 20,000 USD |
Missions to the property until 2001**
May 2001: Interdisciplinary mission
Information presented to the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee in 2001
Previous deliberations:
Twenty-fourth session of the Committee – paragraph VIII.5
Twenty-fourth ordinary session of the Bureau - paragraph IV.4
New information: Threats to this site reported to the previous sessions of the Bureau and the Committee continue to prevail. A meeting between the representatives of the Centre and Earth Conservancy, a conservation NGO working closely with the State Party to protect the site, was held in February 2001. This meeting has led the way to the organisation of a site visit from 5 to 13 May 2001 for assessing the state of conservation and preparing a rehabilitation plan for the site. The mission will include reperesentatives from the Centre, IUCN, Earth Conservancy and the State Party.
Action Required
The Bureau may wish to review the conclusions and recommendations of the May 2001 mission to the site expected to be available at the time of its session and take appropriate decisions.
Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2001
Principal issues:
Across-the-border poaching of wildlife by armed gangs. Lack of management infrastructure and resources.
New information:
In accordance with the recommendations of the Committee, made since the inclusion of this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1997, a mission to this site was fielded from 5-13 May 2001 and the report of the mission submitted to the twenty-fifth session of the Bureau in June 2001 (the report was included as WHC-2001/CONF.205/INF.6 for review by the Bureau). The Bureau’s deliberations are included in paragraphs V.8-V.10 of the Rapporteur’s Report submitted as working document WHC-01/CONF.208/3 to the twenty-fifth session of the Committee.
The Bureau had invited the Centre and IUCN to work together with all parties concerned to prepare a fundraising plan for the implementation of urgent rehabilitation measures, a realistic workplan including institutional responsibilities for the implementation of those measures, and a time frame for the effective rehabilitation of the site and benchmarks that could signal improvements in its state of conservation and assist the Committee’s decision concerning the eventual removal of the site from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Centre is in the process of developing such a detailed plan, in co-operation with the State Party, including components that may be considered by the Committee for financing under the World Heritage Fund. Details of the plan and justifications for the assistance requested from the Fund will be presented to the Committee under the Agenda item 17 on requests for international assistance.
In accordance with the recommendation of the twenty-fifth session of the Bureau, letters are being prepared under the signautre of the Director-General, to the Permanent Delegations of all countries neighbouring the Republic of Central Africa inviting their cooperation in combatting poaching in the site by armed groups traversing their territories. The Centre, in co-operation with IUCN, the State Party and other partners will follow up with the State Party and its neighbours to organize forums and specific actions to raise awareness of across-the-border poaching issues and ways and means of combatting them.
Summary of the interventions
Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2001
25 BUR V.8-10
Manovo Gounda-St.Floris National Park (Central African Republic (CAR))
V.8 The Bureau noted that representatives of the Centre, IUCN, the State Party and the Earth Conservancy, a conservation NGO working closely with the State Party to protect the site, undertook a site visit from 5 to 13 May 2001 to assess the state of conservation and prepare a rehabilitation plan for the site. The Bureau took note of the detailed conclusions and recommendations of the mission report, including description of urgent actions needed for the rehabilitation of the site, outlined in WHC-2001/CONF.205/INF.6.
V.9 The Bureau learnt that the primary threat to this site, as reported in the Bureau and Committee sessions of the last two years, originates from poachers coming from outside the borders of the CAR. The mission had received direct support from the President of the CAR who had met the mission team and made public his Government’s strong commitment to the conservation of the site. Despite the transborder poaching threats, the site still contains substantial numbers of key wildlife species. Given adequate protection, in combination with efforts to promote sustainable economic development in the broader region and promote co-operation with neighbouring countries to control poaching, the site could be rehabilitated within a reasonable period of time.
V.10 The Bureau thanked the President and the Government of the CAR for assisting the Centre, IUCN and the Earth Conservancy to field a successful mission to the site and identify urgent rehabilitation measures. The Bureau noted with satisfaction the conclusions and recommendations of the mission, including urgent rehabilitation measures and the costs of their implementation, described in document WHC-2001/CONF.205/INF.6. The Bureau agreed with the mission team that rehabilitation and conservation of the site must be linked to socio-economic development of local communities in and around the site. The Bureau invited the Director-General of UNESCO to write to all the neighbouring countries around the CAR to seek their full co-operation in curbing trans-border poaching which is threatening wildlife populations in and around the site. The Bureau invited the Centre and IUCN to work together with all parties concerned to prepare a fund-raising plan for the implementation of the urgent rehabilitation measures, a realistic workplan including institutional responsibilities for the implementation of those measures, and a time frame for the effective rehabilitation of the site and benchmarks that could signal improvements in the state of conservation of the site and assist the Committee’s decision concerning the eventual removal of the site from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Bureau requested that the fund-raising plan and the workplan be submitted to the Committee session in Finland in December 2001.
25 COM VIII.9-11
Manovo-Gounda-St.Floris National Park (Central African Republic (CAR))
VIII.9 The Committee noted with satisfaction that in accordance with the recommendations made at its last session, a mission to the site was fielded from 5-13 May 2001. The Committee took note of the conclusions and recommendations deriving from the examination of that report by the twenty-fifth session of the Bureau held in June 2001.
VIII.10 The Committee noted that the Centre and IUCN were in the process of co-operating with the State Party to prepare a fundraising plan for the implementation of urgent rehabilitation measures and a realistic workplan including institutional responsibilities for the implementation of those measures. These plans will include benchmarks that could signal improvements in the state of conservation of the site and assist the Committee's decision concerning the eventual removal of the site from the List of World Heritage in Danger. As part of this cooperative process, a two-phase, 24-month programme of actions for addressing the critical and most urgent needs for the conservation of the site have been developed. The list of actions includes those needed to provide urgent protection for the site and others to encourage dialogue among stakeholders to link site protection to socio-economic development of the broader region. The Committee took note of those actions included in pages 38 and 39 of the Working Document WHC-01/CONF.208/20 as part of the description of an emergency assistance request from the World Heritage Fund submitted by the State Party.
VIII.11 The Committee was informed that, in accordance with the recommendation of the twenty-fifth session of the Bureau, the Director-General had written to the Permanent Delegations of all countries neighbouring the Republic of Central Africa inviting their co-operation in mitigating across-the-border poaching. The Committee invited the State Party to actively seek the co-operation of all its neighbours to combat poachers entering from neighbouring countries. The Committee requested the Centre and IUCN to co-operate with the State Party to identify potential financial sources, over and above that which the Committee may consider providing from the World Heritage Fund, to implement the urgent rehabilitation measures and long-term conservation actions for the benefit of this site. The Committee decided that the site be retained in the List of World Heritage in Danger.
25 COM XVIII.8
Emergency Assistance
XVIII.8.1 NATURAL Central African Republic
Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park Emergency Rehabilitation Plan: The Committee was informed that the requested clarifications had been received. IUCN expressed its support for the request. The Committee approved US$150,000 for this activity.
The Committee may wish to adopt the following:
“The Committee notes with satisfaction that a site visit has been undertaken and that the state of conservation of the site has been assessed and a rehabilitation plan prepared. The Committee invites the State Party to actively seek the co-operation of all its neighbours to combat across-the-border poaching. The Committee requests the Centre and IUCN to co-operate with the State Party to identify potential financial sources, over and above that which the Committee may consider approving from the World Heritage Fund, to implement the urgent rehabilitation measures for the conservation of this site. The Committee decides that the site be retained in the List of World Heritage in Danger”.
![](https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/thumbs/site_0475_0001-376-200-20151104163513.jpg)
Exports
* :
The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).
** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.