Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve

• Mining
• Influx of refugees
• Agricultural encroachment
• Deforestation
• Poaching
• Weak management capacity
• Lack of resources
• Unsatisfactory transboundary cooperation
• Road construction

• Iron-ore mining concession inside the property in Guinea
• Arrival of large numbers of refugees from Liberia to areas in and around the Reserve
• Insufficient institutional structure 

Adopted, see page https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/8086/

Adopted, see page https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/7464 

Proposed for adoption in the 2024-2025 Costed Action Plan

Total amount granted:  USD 25,282 from the Rapid Response Facility in January 2012 (see page https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/830/), USD 31,214 from the Government of China Funds for Capacity Building and cooperation for World Heritage in Africa (https://whc.unesco.org/en/280/?id=1058&&&)

On 31 January 2024, the States Parties of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea submitted a joint state of conservation report of the property, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/155/documents/, reporting the following:

• The implementation of the corrective measures, in particular surveillance, ecological monitoring, support for neighbouring populations, strengthening of management capacities, ecological monitoring, fight against poaching, restoration of degraded areas, fight against bush fires, among others, as well as transboundary activities, is continuing in the two States Parties with the financial and technical support of several partners;
• The Development and Management Plan (plan d’aménagement et de gestion - PAG) for the Ivorian component of the property was validated in May 2022, while the PAG for the Guinean component is currently being finalised. The Master Plan for the two protected areas will follow;
• In Côte d'Ivoire, the Makoré Project will finance the management costs of five protected areas, including the Mount Nimba Reserve, for two years from 2024. It will also add 15 million euros to the endowment fund of the Foundation for the Parks and Reserves of Côte d'Ivoire (Fondation pour les Parcs et Réserves de Côte d’Ivoire - FPRCI), ensuring sustainable funding for the recurrent costs of the five protected areas from the third year;
• Infrastructure development in the peripheral zone of national parks and nature reserves in Côte d'Ivoire is regulated by strict legal provisions, in particular Law 2002‑102 of 11 February 2002;
• In 2022, the Support Programme for the Preservation of Forest Ecosystems in West Africa (Programme d'Appui à la Préservation des Ecosystèmes Forestiers en Afrique de l'Ouest - PAPFor) made it possible to monitor five community forests and to draw up six local development plans for the villages bordering the reserve. The formalisation and training of Village Conservation and Development Associations (Associations Villageoises de Conservation et de Développement) began in 2023 and will continue in 2024 with new micro-projects;
• The Côte d’Ivoire Parks and Reserves Office (Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves - OIPR), with the support of UNESCO, organised a workshop in Conakry in December 2023 to assess the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSCOR) and to draw up a plan for the removal of the Mount Nimba Reserve from the List of World Heritage in Danger, including recommendations and a costed action plan;
• Following the adoption of the DSOCR at the extended 45th session of the Committee, major efforts, although slowed by the late start of the PAPFor and the lack of recent specific studies on certain key species, have been deployed to achieve the indicators for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger, including the strengthening of operational capacities, transboundary collaboration, surveillance patrols and support for neighbouring populations;
• Pending the full update of the Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) of the mining sector in Guinea, draft Technical Criteria for assessing the acceptability of mining projects based on their potential individual and cumulative impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property are being prepared and will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN as soon as possible;
• The control and monitoring of the implementation of the necessary measures to manage the impacts of the Lola-N'zo - Danané road project crossing the buffer zone of the Mounts Nimba Biosphere Reserve (Réserve de Biosphère des Monts Nimba - RBMN) is ensured by a Framework Collaboration Agreement between the Mounts Nimba-Simandou Environmental Management Centre (Centre de Gestion de l'Environnement des Monts Nimba-Simandou - CEGENS) and the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure.

On 25 April 2024, the State Party of Guinea submitted to the World Heritage Centre a Brief Description of Phase 1 of the Nimba Mining Project of the Société des Mines de Fer de Guinée (SMFG), which was reviewed by IUCN, the comments of which were transmitted to the State Party by the World Heritage Centre. On 28 May 2024, SMFG, a company in which the State Party of Guinea is a shareholder, announced that the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Guinea had issued approvals for the terms of reference (ToR) and the scoping documents for the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the development of Phase 1 of the Nimba Iron Ore Project.

In December 2023, the States Parties attended a workshop in Conakry, Guinea, to assess the implementation of the DSOCR and produce a costed action plan.

Despite irregular and insufficient funding and limited management capacity, the States Parties have made significant progress in implementing certain corrective measures, including surveillance, ecological monitoring, support for neighbouring populations and transboundary activities. These efforts are commendable and must be continued.

The obvious interest shown by several technical and financial partners through several projects and programmes, in particular UNESCO, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the European Union (EU) and the World Bank, in supporting the States Parties in improving the state of conservation of the property and achieving the DSOCR indicators is to be welcomed and should be encouraged. Despite the delay in starting up, the continued effective implementation of all the components of the PAPFor to support the management functions of the property is appreciated. However, there has been a delay in the process of validating the PAG for the Guinean component of the property and the Master Plan including the two components of the property. It is recommended that the States Parties provide detailed information on the progress of these two processes. Although efforts are being made to monitor key species that represent major attributes of the OUV of the property, notably the chimpanzee, the Micropotamogale and the viviparous toad, the data remains very disparate from one component to another, with data almost non-existent in the Guinean component, the major part of the property. This is even more worrying for the Micropotamogale, for which there is currently no reliable data on the status of this species in the property. As a follow-up to the Conakry workshop in December 2023, it is recommended that a harmonised and operational ecological monitoring and anti-poaching system be developed and implemented as soon as possible to monitor the trend of key species of the OUV of the property and the integrity of their habitats.

The regulatory framework for infrastructure development in the peripheral zone of national parks and nature reserves in Côte d'Ivoire, particularly Law 2002‑102 of 11 February 2002, which allows the management body to play an important role in decision-making, is noted. However, given the specificities related to the preservation of the OUV of the property in a World Heritage context, it is recommended that the Committee once again reiterate its request to the State Party of Côte d'Ivoire to ensure that the forests in the vicinity of the property are officially designated as a buffer zone under the World Heritage Convention by following the procedure for minor boundary modifications with reference to Paragraphs 107 and 164 of the Operational Guidelines.

Concerning the mining projects, for which potential individual and cumulative impacts on the OUV of the property, mainly in the Guinean component, remain of particular concern, it is noted, on the one hand, that the State Party of Guinea has not made significant progress on the new assessment framework for mining proposals in the Nimba region as an alternative to an SEA, as already reported in 2023, and, on the other hand, that it does not provide any additional information regarding the submission to the World Heritage Centre of the approved version of the draft ToR for the update of the ESIA of Zali Mining SA. It is therefore recommended that the Committee reiterate its request to the State Party of Guinea to submit the approved ToR of Zali Mining SA to the World Heritage Centre before any decision is taken on this project. With regard to the Nimba Iron Ore Mining Project by SMFG, the State Party does not provide any clarification regarding the completion of the ESIA for the entire project as requested by the Committee in its previous decisions, including Decision 45 COM 7A.4.

In reviewing the Brief Description of Phase 1 of the project, IUCN notes that the project, although only partially described, suggests several potential threats to the surrounding ecosystems in general and the OUV of the property in particular, due to the proximity of the project area and its associated infrastructure to the property and to the route of the ore transport line. It should be reminded that the SMFG mining concession is an enclave completely surrounded by the property and includes critical areas for the viviparous toad, an endemic and flagship species of Mounts Nimba. It is noted with great concern that the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Guinea has issued approvals for the ToR and the scoping documents of the ESIA for the development of Phase 1 of the Nimba Iron Ore Project. While recalling SMFG's commitment to carry out a full ESIA in accordance with international standards, to be independently assessed by IUCN, before taking any decision that would be difficult to reverse, it is essential that no environmental compliance certificate be issued for the SMFG's project until the impacts of the entire project have been subject to an ESIA carried out in accordance with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage context.

In view of the potential impacts of the various mining projects on the OUV of the property, it should also be recalled that an SEA in this context would provide the framework to ensure a strategic level assessment of the potential cumulative impacts of the various mining projects on the OUV. It is recommended that the Committee reiterate, once again, its request to the State Party of Guinea not to grant any mining permits near the property without carrying out an SEA, conducted in accordance with international standards, and submitting it to the World Heritage Centre.

The involvement of CEGENS in controlling and monitoring the implementation of the necessary impact management measures for the Lola-N'zo - Danané road project, which crosses the buffer zone of the property, is positive. However, in view of the potential direct and indirect impacts of this project on the OUV of the property, particularly in the Guinean component, it is recommended that the States Parties provide detailed information on the progress of this project and its current route and ensure that these impacts are assessed in accordance with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage context before any decision is taken.

Finally, it is recommended that the Committee retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.