Decision 46 COM 7B.48

Ngorongoro Conservation Area (United Republic of Tanzania) (C/N 39bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7B.Add.4,
2. Recalling Decisions 44 COM 7B.171 and 45 COM 7B.30 adopted at its extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) and extended 45th (Riyadh, 2023) sessions respectively;
3. Also recalling the provisions of the Operational Guidelines and the previous decisions taken by the World Heritage Committee regarding human rights-based approaches that embody the participation of a wide variety of stakeholders and rights-holders, including indigenous peoples and other interested parties and partners in the identification, nomination, management and protection processes of World Heritage properties, as well as the relevant international norms;
4. Notes that the State Party’s Review of the Multiple Land Use Model (MLUM) management system, undertaken in 2020 and made available only in 2024, states that maintaining a multiple land use model has “more advantages economically, socially, culturally, politically and internally than the one that advocates for changing NCA to other protected area category”;
5. Considers that the continued implementation of a multiple land use model, that is developed in consultation with stakeholders and rightsholders, and ensures a clear human rights based approach, is appropriate in principle, and further considers that it is essential that there is full engagement, including effective and adequate consultation with all relevant stakeholders and rightsholders, including those who oppose relocation, in relation to the development of the General Management Plan (GMP) and the implementation strategy going forward following the review of the MLUM;
6. Thanks the State Party for having invited a joint UNESCO/ICOMOS/IUCN Advisory mission in February 2024 to advise on the review of the MLUM and the voluntary resettlement scheme, also notes that the February 2024 mission, was mandated to meet with local community representatives and that some of such meetings were facilitated by the State Party, but notes with concern that the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and mission representatives have continued receiving extensive and continuous concerns, both during and after the mission, from representatives of the local communities in the property, that they did not meet the mission team nor were they adequately consulted during the visit to the property;
7. Notes moreover that, although a report with the preliminary observations of the Advisory mission is currently being completed based on the February visit, further in-person and on-site engagement is required to ensure that the views and concerns of all local communities and stakeholders on the review of the MLUM and the voluntary resettlement scheme are adequately heard;
8. Also takes note that baseline ecological studies are reported to have been undertaken and archaeological investigations scheduled regarding the upgrading of the Lodoare Gate to Golini main road through the property, and again reiterates its request to the State Party to fully implement the 2017 mission recommendations concerning the road and submit to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, the action plan to manage road use, and the results of archaeological investigations and baseline ecological and environmental data before starting the upgrading works;
9. Further takes note that resources are being mobilized to undertake a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), and also reiterates its request for the State Party to ensure the timely delivery of the SEA in order to evaluate the current and future impacts of developments across all sectors in the region, including the property and the wider Serengeti ecosystem so that the findings can inform management, and submit the SEA to the World Heritage Centre for review;
10. Further reiterates its request to the State Party to:
    1. Provide an update on the implementation of all recommendations from the 2017 and 2019 missions and previous Committee decisions based on a revised work plan,
    2. Provide an update on the development of integrated policies and guidelines on tourism carrying capacity and monitoring framework,
    3. Implement the recommendation of the Serengeti Reactive Monitoring Mission on the southern bypass road to downgrade the status of the Karatu – Nyamusa road as a trunk road to a protected area road, closing it for heavy transit traffic from Arusha to Musoma and by disincentivizing other vehicle transit traffic, fully implement the 2017 mission recommendations concerning the upgrading of the Lodoare Gate to Golini main road through the property and submit to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies the action plan to manage road use and the results of archaeological investigations and baseline ecological and environmental data before starting the upgrading works;
    4. Provide an update on any plans for translocation of southern white rhino into the property and not to proceed with the introduction without addressing the concerns raised by the IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group (AfrRSG);
11. Requests furthermore the State Party to not yet implement the 2024 Laetoli Conservation and Sustainable Use Roadmap, which proposes the re-excavation of the Laetoli Footprints (site G) and the construction of an enclosure, but to:
    1. Continue to further define clearer conservation approaches for the Laetoli footprint site and for the overall archaeological landscape,
    2. Engage the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in the evaluation of further developed options before any decisions are made on the presentation of the footprints or the construction of a museum building at the site;
12. Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property, in order to examine the overall state of conservation of the property, and to address the above issues regarding adequate consideration of views and concerns of all local communities and stakeholders on the review of the MLUM and the voluntary resettlement scheme;
13. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2025, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 47th session.