Sangha Trinational

• Civil unrest
• Poaching
• Mining
• Road and river transport project
• Optical fibre project in the vicinity of the property
• Forestry exploitation permits in the buffer zone

Total amount granted: 250,000 Euros from 2008 to 2013 and 700 000 Euros from 2016 to 2021 through the Central African World Heritage Forest Initiative (CAWHFI) funded by the European Union

On 1 December 2022, the States Parties submitted a joint report on the state of conservation of the property available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1380/documents, which provides the following information:

• The updating of the management plans for the property's components continues: in Cameroon, the revision is currently being finalized, while a new plan is awaiting validation in Congo. In the Central African Republic (CAR), the plan expired in December 2020; a review has just begun, with the launch of work to draw up a simple management plan for the Community Hunting Zone;
• Several initiatives in support of local communities and indigenous populations aimed at strengthening their empowerment and access to resources, as well as their participation in the property's conservation actions, have continued. In Congo, the Park's management authority is helping indigenous populations to obtain their birth certificates, in order to facilitate their access to services and their legal rights when interacting with the State and other stakeholders. In Cameroon, the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Forests and Fauna (MINFOF) and an association representing Baka indigenous communities, aimed at securing their access to the Park's natural resources, is currently being revised. In CAR, a mechanism for complaints management and conflict resolution has been set up, and the new wildlife and protected areas management code takes into account the concerns of local populations and indigenous peoples;
• In Congo, the Djeke Triangle, an important biodiversity zone outside the boundaries of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (PNNN) but within the buffer zone of the Sangha Trinational (TNS), will be the focus of enhanced conservation measures. The Park accompanied local communities and indigenous populations in a participatory mapping of their use areas to ensure that they are committed to and approve the management project for this area;
• The population of emblematic fauna has remained relatively stable over the past five years. By 2025, a harmonized methodology will enable a property-wide wildlife census;
• Capacity-building activities were organized for the Wildlife Crime Control Unit and agents of the Village Anti-Poaching Committees (COVILABs) in Cameroon. 16 new eco-guards were trained and 34% of existing eco-guards were retrained in Congo. Equipment has been acquired for SMART wildlife monitoring and data collection, and 4 Ba'Aka and 3 women are among the 25 newly trained eco-guards in CAR;
• Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) have been carried out for a number of major infrastructure projects whose completion is imminent and which could have a negative impact on the OUV of the property, and have been submitted with the report. These include the Ouesso-Pokola road project (50 km), including the construction of the bridge over the Sangha (660 m) and the treatment of critical points on the Pokola-Enyelle-Betou-Gouga section (450 km), as well as the development of the Gouga - Mbaiki - Bangui road (211 km). All future infrastructure or development projects will be subject to an ESIA, which will be transmitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN before any decision is taken;
• No mining or petroleum exploration or exploitation activities currently encroach on the property. The only mining exploration permit overlapping with the property in CAR was cancelled in October 2022. The SCED-Ndéléngué artisanal mining zone (ZEA) project aims to reduce the harmful effects of anarchic exploitation and will be the subject of an ESIA, the report of which will be transmitted to the World Heritage Centre. The State Party of Congo will send official correspondence to the World Heritage Centre to clarify the situation of oil exploitation permits in its component of the property;
• All the logging concessions located around the property benefit from certification under various labels, with the exception of the two logging concessions in the property's buffer zone in CAR;
• Despite the consolidation of cross-border cooperation, poaching is still a problem in the area, even though the number of elephants poached has fallen;
• For cross-border patrols, a code of ethics and good conduct for the property's eco-guards is currently being developed. The standardization of data collection from the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) and the merging of the various databases to create a single property-wide database are scheduled for 2023.

On 18 June 2021, the State Party of Cameroon informed UNESCO of its intention to secure Lobéké National Park by opening a road within the property. In its response of 8 July 2021, the World Heritage Centre shared its concern about the potential impact of this project on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, and stressed the need to not authorize this project before an assessment of its potential impacts on the OUV, and to submit the results of this assessment to the World Heritage Centre for technical review by IUCN. It also suggested the organization of a virtual technical consultation on this subject. No reply was received to this correspondence.

In addition, on 22 December 2022, the World Heritage Centre sent a letter to the State Party of Cameroon requesting information on the concessions of new timber sales being put out to tender around Lobéké National Park. In its reply of 3 January 2023, the State Party confirmed that no new timber sales projects encroach on the buffer zone of the property in its Cameroonian part.

The efforts undertaken to improve the efficiency of the management of the property by continuing to update the management plans, the eventual harmonization of the wildlife census methodology across the property, the acquisition of equipment for the collection of ecological and monitoring data, the fight against wildlife crime, the recruitment and training of new eco-guards, the renewal of partnership agreements and the consolidation of local collaboration as well as cross-border cooperation are positive.

The strengthening of consultations and exchanges with indigenous and local populations with a view to recognizing and respecting their rights and empowering them is appreciated. In particular, efforts to guarantee the rights of indigenous populations through the granting of birth certificates, the revision of the Memorandum of Understanding for access to resources by Baka indigenous communities, the inclusion of the FPIC principle (free, prior and informed consent) in the reinforcement of conservation measures, the establishment of a complaints management and conflict resolution mechanism and the drafting of a code of ethics and good conduct for TNS eco-guards are positive developments. Recalling again the concerns previously raised in the independent review initiated by WWF International, it is recommended that the States Parties be encouraged to continue to address the concerns in accordance with relevant international standards, the World Heritage and Sustainable Development Policy, as well as the recommendations of the independent review, and to report on the implementation of the recommendations of the independent review in the next state of conservation report for the property.

While noting the decrease in elephant poaching cases, the persistence of poaching in the property and its periphery, despite ongoing efforts by States Parties, remains a cause for concern, and it is recommended that monitoring efforts be intensified, notably through cross-border cooperation, in order to control illegal activities in the property. Ongoing efforts to standardize data collection using the SMART tool and to set up a single property-wide database could also facilitate effective monitoring.

The cancellation of the mining exploration permit overlapping with the property in the Central African Republic, and the confirmation of the non-existence of mining and oil exploration or exploitation activities currently encroaching on the property are welcomed. Explanations concerning the SCED-Ndéléngué artisanal mining zone (ZEA) project are noted. It is recommended that the State Party of Congo be requested to provide clarifications concerning the oil exploration permits as soon as possible by official correspondence as mentioned in the report, and to encourage States Parties to pursue their commitments in the implementation of the Convention, as well as the World Heritage Policy which underlines the incompatibility of oil, mining and gas exploration and exploitation with World Heritage status.

The various major infrastructure projects proposed around the property raise concerns. The fact that the property is surrounded by a vast buffer zone in all three countries, which takes into account the close ecological links between the proposed property and its surroundings, is the basis of its ecological integrity. Furthermore, the remoteness of the TNS has always been an additional natural protection against resource exploitation. The various infrastructure projects planned, and in particular the proposed Ouesso-Bangui-Ndjamena road in the Pokola-Enyellé section, which will pass just south of the property in Congo, could drastically change this isolated situation. An IUCN assessment of the ESIA reports reveals that, although these projects are important for facilitating the movement of goods and people and thus stimulating the integration and economic and social development of the CAR, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad, the potential impacts of these projects and particularly of the Pokola-Enyellé road section on the OUV of the property, especially in its Congolese component, have not been addressed. IUCN therefore recommends that the report be revised to specifically integrate the potential impacts of this project on the OUV of the property in accordance with the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, and resubmitted to the World Heritage Centre for IUCN review.

It is regrettable that the State Party of Cameroon has not provided any response to the correspondence of 8 July 2021 concerning the potential impact on the OUV of the property that the project to open another road in the property may have. Recalling that any project with a potential impact on the OUV of the property must be subject to an ESIA, in accordance with the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party of Cameroon to provide updated information on the status of this road project.

In addition, the commitment to carry out an ESIA for all future infrastructure and development projects is noted.

It is also noted that in response to the request for information on concessions for new timber sales around Lobéké National Park, the State Party of Cameroon has confirmed that no new timber sales projects encroach on the buffer zone of the property in its Cameroon component. It is recommended that the Committee urge the State Party of Cameroon to avoid the development of any new concessions in the buffer zone that would have a negative impact on the OUV of the property, and to continue to ensure that no timber sales concessions encroach on the property.

The lack of progress in the certification of the two forest concessions in the buffer zone of the property in CAR remains a cause for concern. Although these two concessions (PEA 189 and 190) have approved management plans through the signature of conventions with the Central African Government, it is recommended to reiterate to the State Party of CAR the need to prioritize the certification of these two concessions in order to avoid any potential impact on the OUV of the property.

Furthermore, it is recommended that the States Parties continue to implement the recommendations of the 2016 Reactive Monitoring mission.