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Garamba National Park

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Factors affecting the property in 2015*
  • Civil unrest
  • Illegal activities
  • Management systems/ management plan
  • War
Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports
  • Armed conflict and political instability
  • Poaching by nationals and trans-border armed groups
  • Unadapted management capabilities to address the poaching crisis
Threats for which the property was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger
  • Increased poaching
  • Pressure linked to the civil war, thereby threatening the flagship species of the property
Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger

A draft was prepared during the 2010 reactive monitoring mission (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/136/documents/ ) but indicators need to be quantified on the basis of the results of the aerial surveys. 

Corrective Measures for the property
Timeframe for the implementation of the corrective measures
Not yet established
UNESCO Extra-Budgetary Funds until 2015

Total amount granted: USD 910,000 from the United Nations Foundation, the Governments of Italy, Belgium and Spain and the Rapid Response Facility.

International Assistance: requests for the property until 2015
Requests approved: 13 (from 1980-2015)
Total amount approved : 323,270 USD
Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2015

On 17 February 2015, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/136/documents/ (pages 26 – 31).

Security challenges have also led to a renewed wave of elephant poaching, with at least 133 elephants poached between April and December 2014. In this period, park rangers were engaged in 25 violent encounters with poaching groups, armed with automatic rifles and grenades, and resulting in 14 poachers being killed. In 13 cases, the involved armed groups were documented to originate from South Sudan. In several cases, there is evidence that poachers used helicopters in their activities.

After a peak in April to June 2014, the number of elephants killed could be reduced progressively, following the acquisition of anti-poaching equipment (including a helicopter) and intensification of patrols covering 80% of the property (up from 60% in 2013) and 45% of the adjacent hunting areas (up from 20%). Unfortunately, recent reports received from the park management authority indicate that elephant poaching intensified again this year with a new group of poachers presumably originating from Sudan operating from the Azande hunting area. Another 31 elephant carcasses were found in February and March 2015.

Other measures taken by the State Party and African Parks to address this emergency are reported as follows:

  • The Vice Prime Minister in charge of security visited the site with the Governor and the security committee and made strong recommendations to the Government to address the issue;
  • Mixed operations between the Congolese Army (FARDC) and park rangers, with support of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo MONUSCO and Unites States Africa Command force (AFRICOM). FARDC provided park rangers with arms and ammunition;
    • Two FARDC colonels implicated in poaching were transferred elsewhere;
    • Strengthened cooperation with local communities and traditional chiefs to provide intelligence on poaching activities;
    • Anti-poaching operations were restructured and a 24/7 operational control room was installed;
    • Cooperation efforts with the management of Lantoto National Park in South Sudan;

Increased pressure in the hunting areas as a result of increasing population densities and illegal logging and artisanal mining are also reported. A new management plan 2015 – 2017 is under preparation in response to the current emergency situation.

Analysis and Conclusion by World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in 2015

At the time of writing this report, the joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property, requested by the Committee at its 38th session in 2014, could not yet take place due to the security situation.  An experienced guard was killed on 25 April 2015 following a confrontation with a group of armed poachers who attacked the patrol unit of the property.

While last year’s report noted a significant improvement of the security situation as a result of efforts to fight the rebels from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the impact of the war in the region created a new security problem and led to a renewed poaching crisis affecting the property since April 2014. In its report, the State Party notes that in March 2014, the elephant population was estimated at 1700 animals, so with at least another 164 elephants lost between April 2014 and March 2015, population numbers might plummet under the 1500 mark very soon. The elephant population of Garamba was estimated at more than 22000 in 1976 and at more than 11000 at the start of the conflict in 1995. More than 90% of the original elephant population has thus been lost. Already the Northern White Rhino, the last known wild population of which occurred in the property, has been considered extinct in the wild, with no sightings since 2006. Poaching is also targeting the small remaining population of the endemic Congolese giraffe, estimated at less than 40 individuals in 2013 and at least three more giraffe were reported to have been poached since the previous session. The continued erosion of wildlife populations is threatening the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, which was inscribed on the basis of its exceptional biodiversity. If the tide can not be turned soon, the populations of elephant and giraffe might be heading to extinction, resulting in an irreversible loss of OUV.

In the face of this dire situation, the relentless efforts of the Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (ICCN, the park management authority) and its partners, in particular the African Parks Foundation, to continue anti-poaching activities and halt the decline are commendable. It is welcomed that park rangers received more equipment, including weapons, ammunition and a helicopter. The increased cooperation with the FARDC, AFRICOM and MONUSCO are encouraging, as the poaching can not be dissociated from the wider security issues affecting the region.

The continued reports of the use of helicopters and the alleged involvement of national and foreign military in the poaching is extremely worrisome and it is recommended that the World Heritage Committee invite the Director General of UNESCO to call on the State Party as well as neighbouring States, in particular Uganda and South Sudan, which is planning to become a State Party to the World Heritage Convention, to ensure that military operations in the region do not impact on the OUV of the property. The organization of a high level meeting between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan and other potential stakeholders on how to improve security in the region and address the poaching is suggested.

There is also concern about the increased pressure on the hunting areas adjacent to the property, in particular from artisanal mining, and it is recommended that the Committee reiterate its request to the State Party to develop a conservation strategy for the hunting areas so that they can act as buffer zones, given their importance for the conservation of the property’s OUV.

It is recommended that the Committee retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger and continue to apply the reinforced monitoring mechanism.

General Decision on the properties of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Current conservation issues

On 17 February 2015, the State Party submitted a report on the implementation of Decision 38 COM 7A.42, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/136/documents/ (pages 7– 9). The report notes the following progress in the implementation of the Kinshasa Declaration:

  • In August 2014, the National Superior Defence Council, chaired by the President of the Republic, announced that instructions were given to reinforce security in the protected areas of the country and to strengthen the capacity of the park guards with assistance from the army;
  • In November 2014, the Vice Prime Minister reiterated the commitment of the Government to implement the Declaration;
  • A special anti-poaching brigade is being created in order to assist in protecting national parks. The Presidential Decree underway will formalize its creation;
  • The cooperation with the army has been greatly improved;
  • Efforts are underway to ensure that the mining cadastre includes updated information on the location of protected areas in order to ensure that there is no overlap between concessions and protected areas;
  • The Interministerial Committee has not yet been officially established, but several interministerial meetings were held to discuss issues related to protected areas. At provincial level, these issues are dealt with by the Provincial Consultative Councils on Forests;
  • The Strategic Plan of Action, which was adopted at the high level meeting of 2011, will be updated in 2015.

The report further notes that the new Hydrocarbons Code was adopted by both the Parliament and the Senate, but will still be discussed in the mixed Committee of the two Chambers, allowing for further discussion on Article 160, which foresees the possibility of degazetment of protected areas to allow for oil exploitation.

In relation to the oil exploration in Virunga, it is noted that the Government is planning to submit to the World Heritage Centre a proposal with “options for exception mechanisms for further negotiation”. This seems to be in line with the reply by the Prime Minister to the letter of 8 January by the Delegation Heads of the European Union, World Bank, UNESCO and United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Ambassadors of Germany and Canada, where he pointed out that in the event the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) would want to go forward with oil exploitation, it would seek a minor boundary modification (see also report on Virunga National Park, item 4 of Document WHC-15/39.COM/7A).

Analysis and Conclusions of the World Heritage Centre and IUCN

The statement by the Vice Prime Minister of DRC reiterating the commitment of the Government to implement the Kinshasa Declaration should be welcomed. In particular, it is encouraging that concrete measures have been taken to implement one of the most important elements of the Declaration, namely to create the conditions for implementation of the corrective measures by securing the sites.

The intention to create a special anti-poaching brigade is also noted. Widespread poaching is without doubt the single most important threat to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of all five properties. Results of the different inventories clearly show that since the start of the conflict, the biodiversity values of the properties have been seriously affected and their populations of emblematic species, such as Northern White Rhino, Okapi, Grauer’s Gorilla, Bonobo and Elephant, were severely reduced. Decisive action is needed to turn the tide. Recently, the increasing demand for ivory has in particular further increased pressure on the remaining Elephant populations. It is estimated that the DRC Elephant population, most of which is living in the World Heritage properties, has dwindled by over 90%, from more than 100 000 at the start of the 1980s to less than 10 000 today. Securing the sites and strengthening anti-poaching efforts are important, but additional efforts will be needed in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to identify and take legal action against the criminal networks involved in the illegal traffic. Efforts to reduce demand in consumer countries are also needed.

The reported efforts to ensure that the mining cadastre uses accurate mapping information of the properties to avoid the attribution of mining concessions overlapping with the properties also responds to a long standing demand of the Committee. It is recommended that the Committee reiterate its requests to the State Party to annul all existing permits, which overlap with any of the properties.

It is also recommended that the Committee express its utmost concern about Article 160 of the new Code for Hydrocarbons, which foresees the possibility of degazetting protected areas, including World Heritage properties, as well as the statement made by the Prime Minister of DRC that the State Party might seek a boundary modification of Virunga National Park to allow for oil exploration activities to proceed. These are in clear contradiction to the Kinshasa Declaration, which committed to uphold the protection status of the properties. It is recommended that the Committee reiterate its position on this issue, as expressed in previous decisions.

Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2015
39 COM 7A.6
Garamba National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (N 136)
The World Heritage Committee,
  1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7A,
  2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7A.39 adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
  3. Expresses its utmost concern about the renewed poaching crisis which erupted in April 2014 and which led to the poaching of at least 164 elephants and three Congo giraffes and expresses its most sincere condolences to the family of the guard killed in operations for the protection of the property;
  4. Notes with great concern that the probable extinction of the Northern White Rhino in the property and the continued erosion of the populations of other wildlife species, in particular the loss of more than 90% of the elephant population and the continued decline of the relict population of Congolese giraffe, if not halted soon, could lead to an irreversible loss of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
  5. Requests the State Party to cooperate with other States Parties and international technical organizations, such as IUCN, to outline a population recovery plan and call for support of the international community in addressing the loss of endangered species;
  6. Commends the State Party, in particular the Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (ICCN) and the African Parks Foundation, for their efforts to strengthen anti-poaching efforts to address this crisis, by reorganizing anti-poaching operations, bringing in additional field equipment and a helicopter to enable better aerial support for anti-poaching activities and urges the State Party to give the utmost priority to halting the poaching crisis;
  7. Welcomes the increased cooperation with the Congolese Army (FARDC), United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) to restore security in the region, control the armed groups, stop cross-border incursions and address the poaching crisis;
  8. Also expresses its utmost concern about continued reports of the use of helicopters and the alleged involvement of elements of the army in elephant poaching in the property;
  9. Invites the Director-General of UNESCO to call on the State Party as well as neighbouring States, in particular Uganda and South Sudan, to ensure that military operations in the region do not impact on the OUV of the property and to organize in cooperation with MONUSCO a high-level meeting between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan and other potential stakeholders on how to improve security in the region and address the poaching issue;
  10. Further expresses its concern about the increased pressure on the hunting areas adjacent to the property, in particular from artisanal mining, and reiterates its request to the State Party to develop a conservation strategy for the hunting areas so that they can act as buffer zones, given their importance for the conservation of the OUV of the property, including the conditions of integrity;
  11. Also urges the State Party to continue its efforts to implement the corrective measures to rehabilitate the OUV of the property;
  12. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre / IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to re-asses its state of conservation, to update the corrective measures and establish a new timeframe for their implementation and to finalize the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger;
  13. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2016, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016;
  14. Decides to continue the application of the Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism of the property;
  15. Also decides to retain the Garamba National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
39 COM 7A.9
General Decision on the properties of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
The World Heritage Committee,
  1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7A,
  2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7A.42, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014) and reaffirming the need to implement the Kinshasa Declaration adopted in 2011,
  3. Welcomes the statement by the Vice Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reiterating the commitment of the State Party to implement the Kinshasa Declaration, as well as the decision by the National Superior Defence Council to instruct the army to strengthen security in the properties;
  4. Notes with appreciation the efforts to ensure that the mining cadastre uses accurate mapping information of the properties to avoid that mining concessions attributed overlap with the properties, and reiterates its requests to the State Party to cancel all existing permits, which overlap with any of the five properties;
  5. Considers that widespread poaching is the single most significant threat to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of all five properties, also welcomes the intention to create a special anti-poaching brigade, but notes that additional efforts will be needed, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to identify and take legal action against the criminal networks involved in the illegal traffic of species of fauna and their products, in particular ivory;
  6. Calls upon the States Parties which are transit and destination countries for ivory and rhino horn, to support the State Party to halt the illegal trade in ivory and other illegal wildlife products, in particular through the implementation of the CITES;
  7. Reiterates its utmost concern about the Hydrocarbons Code that would make oil exploitation activities in protected areas possible, and about the statement by the Prime Minster of DRC that the State Party might seek a boundary modification of Virunga National Park to allow for oil exploration activities to proceed;
  8. Also reiterates its requests to the State Party to ensure that the protection status of the World Heritage properties be maintained and to annul all oil exploration concessions overlapping with any of the five properties, and reiterates its position that mining, oil and gas exploration and exploitation are incompatible with World Heritage status;
  9. Urges the State Party to continue its efforts to implement the commitments made in the Kinshasa Declaration and to ensure the execution of the Strategic Plan of Action, and further reiterates its request to the State Party to approve the decree to formalize the creation of an inter-ministerial committee and allocate the necessary technical and financial means to ensure adequate monitoring in the implementation of the Kinshasa Declaration;
  10. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2016, a detailed report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the implementation of the Kinshasa Declaration, the situation regarding mining, oil and gas exploration and exploitation titles that overlap with World Heritage properties, and the Hydrocarbons Code, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.
39 COM 8C.2
Update of the List of the World Heritage in Danger

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined the state of conservation reports of properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger (WHC-15/39.COM/7A and WHC-15/39.COM/7A.Add),
  2. Decides to retain the following properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger:
  • Afghanistan, Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam (Decision 39 COM 7A.38)
  • Afghanistan, Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley (Decision 39 COM 7A.39)
  • Belize, Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System (Decision 39 COM 7A.18)
  • Bolivia (Plurinational State of), City of Potosi (Decision 39 COM 7A.44)
  • Central African Republic, Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park (Decision 39 COM 7A.1)
  • Chile, Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Decision 39 COM 7A.45)
  • Côte d'Ivoire, Comoé National Park (Decision 39 COM 7A.2)
  • Côte d'Ivoire / Guinea, Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (Decision 39 COM 7A.3)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Virunga National Park (Decision 39 COM 7A.4)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Decision 39 COM 7A.5)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Garamba National Park (Decision 39 COM 7A.6)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Salonga National Park (Decision 39 COM 7A.7)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Okapi Wildlife Reserve (Decision 39 COM 7A.8)
  • Egypt, Abu Mena (Decision 39 COM 7A.24)
  • Ethiopia, Simien National Park (Decision 39 COM 7A.10)
  • Georgia, Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery (Decision 39 COM 7A.40)
  • Georgia, Historical Monuments of Mtskheta (Decision 39 COM 7A.41)
  • Honduras, Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve (Decision 39 COM 7A.20)
  • Indonesia, Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (Decision 39 COM 7A.15)
  • Iraq, Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat) (Decision 39 COM 7A.25)
  • Iraq, Samarra Archaeological City (Decision 39 COM 7A.26)
  • Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls (site proposed by Jordan) (Decision 39 COM 7A.27)
  • Madagascar, Rainforests of the Atsinanana (Decision 39 COM 7A.11)
  • Mali, Timbuktu (Decision 39 COM 7A.21)
  • Mali, Tomb of Askia (Decision 39 COM 7A.22)
  • Niger, Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves (Decision 39 COM 7A.12)
  • Palestine, Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem (Decision 39 COM 7A.28)
  • Palestine, Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir (Decision 39 COM 7A.29)
  • Panama, Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo (Decision 39 COM 7A.46)
  • Peru, Chan Chan Archaelogical Zone (Decision 39 COM 7A.47)
  • Senegal, Niokolo-Koba National Park (Decision 39 COM 7A.13)
  • Serbia, Medieval Monuments in Kosovo (Decision 39 COM 7A.42)
  • Solomon Islands, East Rennell (Decision 39 COM 7A.16)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Ancient City of Damascus (Decision 39 COM 7A.30)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Ancient City of Bosra (Decision 39 COM 7A.31)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Site of Palmyra (Decision 39 COM 7A.32)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Ancient City of Aleppo (Decision 39 COM 7A.33)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din (Decision 39 COM 7A.34)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Ancient Villages of Northern Syria (Decision 39 COM 7A.35)
  • Uganda, Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi (Decision 39 COM 7A.23)
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City (Decision 39 COM 7A.43)
  • United Republic of Tanzania, Selous Game Reserve (Decision 39 COM 7A.14)
  • United States of America, Everglades National Park (Decision 39 COM 7A.17)
  • Venezuela, Coro and its Port (Decision 39 COM 7A.48)
  • Yemen, Historic Town of Zabid (Decision 39 COM 7A.37)
Draft Decision: 39 COM 7A.6

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7A,
  2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7A.39 adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
  3. Expresses its utmost concern about the renewed poaching crisis which erupted in April 2014 and which led to the poaching of at least 164 elephants and three Congo giraffe and expresses its most sincere condolences to the family of the guard killed in operations for the protection of the property ;
  4. Notes with great concern that the probable extinction of the Northern White Rhino in the property and the continued erosion of the populations of other wildlife species, in particular the loss of more than 90% of the elephant population and the continued decline of the relict population of Congolese giraffe, if not halted soon, could lead to an irreversible loss of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
  5. Commends the State Party, in particular the Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (ICCN) and the African Parks Foundation, for their efforts to strengthen anti-poaching efforts to address this crisis, by reorganizing anti-poaching operations, bringing in additional field equipment and a helicopter to enable better aerial support for anti-poaching activities and urges the State Party to give the utmost priority to halting the poaching crisis;
  6. Welcomes the increased cooperation with the Congolese Army (FARDC), United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) to restore security in the region, control the armed groups, stop cross-border incursions and address the poaching crisis;
  7. Also expresses its utmost concern about continued reports of the use of helicopters and the alleged involvement of elements of the army in elephant poaching in the property;
  8. Invites the Director-General of UNESCO to call on the State Party as well as neighbouring States, in particular Uganda and South Sudan, to ensure that military operations in the region do not impact on the OUV of the property and to organize in cooperation with MONUSCO a high-level meeting between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan and other potential stakeholders on how to improve security in the region and address the poaching issue;
  9. Further expresses its concern about the increased pressure on the hunting areas adjacent to the property, in particular from artisanal mining, and reiterates its request to the State Party to develop a conservation strategy for the hunting areas so that they can act as buffer zones, given their importance for the conservation of the OUV of the property, including the conditions of integrity;
  10. Also urgesthe State Party to continue its efforts to implement the corrective measures to rehabilitate the OUV of the property;
  11. Also reiterates its requestto the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre / IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to re-asses its state of conservation, to update the corrective measures and establish a new timeframe for their implementation and to finalize the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger;
  12. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2016, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016;
  13. Decidesto continue the application of the reinforced monitoring mechanism of the property;
  14. Also decides to retain the Garamba National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Draft Decision: 39 COM 7A.9

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7A,
  2. Recalling Decision38 COM 7A.42, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014) and reaffirming the need to implement the Kinshasa Declaration adopted in 2011,
  3. Welcomesthe statement by the Vice Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reiterating the commitment of the State Party to implement the Kinshasa Declaration, as well as the decision by the National Superior Defence Council to instruct the army to strengthen security in the properties;
  4. Notes with appreciation the efforts to ensure that the mining cadastre uses accurate mapping information of the properties to avoid that mining concessions attributed overlap with the properties, and reiterates its requests to the State Party to cancel all existing permits, which overlap with any of the five properties;
  5. Considers that widespread poaching is the single most significant threat to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of all five properties, also welcomes the intention to create a special anti-poaching brigade, but notes that additional efforts will be needed, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to identify and take legal action against the criminal networks involved in the illegal traffic of species of fauna and their products, in particular ivory;
  6. Calls upon the States Parties which are transit and destination countries for ivory and rhino horn, to support the State Party to halt the illegal trade in ivory and other illegal wildlife products, in particular through the implementation of the CITES;
  7. Reiterates its utmost concernabout the Hydrocarbons Code that would make oil exploitation activities in protected areas possible, and about the statement by the Prime Minster of DRC that the State Party might seek a boundary modification of Virunga National Park to allow for oil exploration activities to proceed;
  8. Also reiterates its requests to the State Party to ensure that the protection status of the World Heritage properties be maintained and to annul all oil exploration concessions overlapping with any of the five properties, and reiteratesits position that mining, oil and gas exploration and exploitation are incompatible with World Heritage status;
  9. Urgesthe State Party to continue its efforts to implement the commitments made in the Kinshasa Declaration and to ensure the execution of the Strategic Plan of Action, and further reiterates its request to the State Party to approve the decree to formalize the creation of an inter-ministerial committee and allocate the necessary technical and financial means to ensure adequate monitoring in the implementation of the Kinshasa Declaration;
  10. Requeststhe State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2016, a detailed report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the implementation of the Kinshasa Declaration, the situation regarding mining, oil and gas exploration and exploitation titles that overlap with World Heritage properties, and the Hydrocarbons Code, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.
Report year: 2015
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date of Inscription: 1980
Category: Natural
Criteria: (vii)(x)
Danger List (dates): 1984-1992, 1996-present
Documents examined by the Committee
SOC Report by the State Party
Report (2015) .pdf
arrow_circle_right 39COM (2015)
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.


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