Decision 38 COM 7B.90

Lake Turkana National Parks (Kenya) (N 801bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.4 adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Welcomes the initiation of bilateral discussions between the States Parties of Kenya and Ethiopia on the potential impact of the Gibe III dam and associated agricultural irrigation projects on the property, and the stated intention to carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the developments on the Omo River, the completion of which is expected in December 2014;
4. Notes with concern that construction of large scale irrigation schemes has continued, and that initial filling of the reservoir of the Gibe III dam is reported to start this year, i.e. prior to the expected completion of the SEA, and prior to the identification and implementation of appropriate mitigation measures;
5. Considers that the imminent completion of the Gibe III dam and initial filling of its reservoir, and the ongoing development of associated large-scale irrigation projects in the Omo River Valley could lead to an irreversible loss of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property and represent a clear potential danger to the OUV of the property, in accordance with Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines;
6. Welcomes the invitation by the State Party of Ethiopia for a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN reactive monitoring mission to review the impacts of the Gibe III dam, other planned hydro-electric developments and associated large-scale irrigation projects in the Omo region on the OUV of the property;
7. Decides to re-examine this issue at its 39th session in 2015, with a view to considering in the case of confirmation of the ascertained or potential danger to its Outstanding Universal Value, the possible inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger;
8. Urges the State Party of Ethiopia not to start the filling of the dam and to halt the construction of the large scale irrigation projects before the SEA is completed and appropriate mitigation measures are identified to guarantee sufficient inflow of water to Lake Turkana and sufficient seasonal variations to preserve the OUV of the property;
9. Requests the States Parties of Kenya and Ethiopia, with the support of the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, to develop, a set of corrective measures, which should include actions and indicators to ensure that impacts to OUV from the filling of the dam and irrigation projects will be avoided, for examination by the Committee at its 39th session in 2015;
10. Recalls its request to the State Party of Kenya, in consultation with the State Party of Ethiopia, to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2015, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2012 monitoring mission, as well as those contained in the report of the joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN mission mentioned in paragraph 6 above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in 2015.