Decision 38 COM 7B.95

Selous Game Reserve (United Republic of Tanzania) (N 199bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 36 COM 7B.5, 36 COM 8B.43 and 37 COM 7B.7, adopted at its 36th (Saint-Petersburg, 2012) and 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) sessions respectively,
3. Commends the State Party for the establishment of the Tanzania Wildlife Authority (TAWA), the formulation of a comprehensive National Anti-poaching Strategy, the establishment of the Wildlife Conservation Basket Fund for supporting anti-poaching initiatives, and the mobilisation of human, material and financial resources;
4. Notes with concern the poaching and the ensuing dramatic declines in elephant populations, as evidenced by the results of the recent aerial elephant survey, and considers that poaching and the effects thereof represent a clear ascertained danger to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, in line with Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines;
5. Appreciates the State Party’s concurrence with the recommendation of the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to include the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger;
6. Decides to inscribe Selous Game Reserve (United Republic of Tanzania) on the List of World Heritage in Danger;
7. Requests the State Party to collaborate with the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, in particular on the formulated National Anti-poaching Strategy, the implementation of which would eradicate this plague in the Larger Selous Ecosystem within 12 months;
8. Exhorts the international donor community, to provide urgent technical and financial assistance for the implementation of the anti-poaching strategy, and also 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 wildlife and its derivatives, in particular through the implementation of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);
9. Also requests the State Party to implement the recommendations of the 2013 joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN reactive monitoring mission, which build upon earlier mission recommendations, in particular to:
   1. Ensure full disaster preparedness and independent quantitative and qualitative water monitoring related to the Mkuju River Project (MRP) and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the case of consideration of In-Situ Leaching (ISL),
   2. Develop a strategy to manage the property at the wider landscape level of the “Larger Selous Ecosystem” and formalize this landscape level management through the establishment of a buffer zone and potentially strategic additions to the property,
   3. Clarify the status of planning and decision-making of the Stiegler's Gorge Dam project and ensure a comprehensive understanding of the impacts, risks, costs, benefits, and alternatives as a basis for any decision-making regarding the project both in the form of an in-depth EIA and the comprehensive Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) noted below, taking into account the OUV of the property,
   4. Complete the existing Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Kidunda dam project and fully consider the OUV of the property in all assessments and decision-making,
   5. Take advantage of the upcoming updating of the General Management Plan to fully consider the World Heritage status of the property and to address the emerging issue of alien invasive species,
   6. Further enhance the involvement of, and benefits for, local communities, in particular by consolidating Wildlife Management Areas as a promising entry point and framework;
10. Reiterates its request to the State Party not to undertake any development activities within Selous Game Reserve and its surrounding areas without prior approval of the World Heritage Committee in accordance with the Operational Guidelines;
11. Also reiterates its request to the State Party not to engage in any mining activity within the property after exclusion of the Mkuju River Mining site as per Decision 36 COM 8B.43, in line with its established position that mining and oil and gas exploration and exploitation are incompatible with World Heritage status;
12. Welcomes the willingness of the State Party to address the multiple threats to the OUV of the property, and to undertake a SEA for the Larger Selous Ecosystem, and recalls that this SEA should comprehensively identify the cumulative impacts of the various existing and proposed developments both within the property and in important wildlife corridors and dispersal areas that are critical for maintaining the OUV and integrity of the property, including but not limited to the Selous-Niassa Corridor, in conformity with the IUCN’s World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Impact Assessment;
13. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2015, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property, including a one-page executive summary and a proposal for the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger, including a timeframe for achieving it, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in 2015.