UNESCO works with the States Parties of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea to support the process of removing the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve from the List of World Heritage in Danger

At its extended 45th session in September 2023 in Riyadh, the World Heritage Committee, in its Decision 45COM 7A.4, adopted the desired state of conservation for the removal of the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR).

During the same session, the World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with IUCN, organized a brainstorming meeting with representatives of the delegations of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea, during which two key proposals were formulated to support the property: (i) to establish a multidisciplinary working group to coordinate and monitor the implementation of corrective measures; and (ii) to organise a technical workshop of this working group to assess the current status of the implementation of corrective measures to achieve the DSOCR, and to develop a costed action plan, as a follow-up action to the workshop organised on the DSOCR in Senegal in June 2023.

It is in this context that UNESCO, in collaboration with IUCN, organised a technical workshop from 18 to 20 December 2023 in Conakry (Guinea) to assess the implementation of corrective measures to achieve the desired state of conservation (DSOCR), in order to assist the two States Parties in the process of removing the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger, in response to the Committee’s decision. This workshop is also perfectly aligned with two key tools, namely the Regional Action Plan for Africa (2021-2027) and the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2022-2029), one of the main objectives of which is to provide specialised assistance to African States Parties with sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Financed by the World Heritage Fund and a contribution from the Norwegian government, the meeting brought together some twenty participants representing Guinean and Ivorian institutions committed to the common cause of preserving the property. Following presentations by representatives of IUCN and the World Heritage Centre on the DSOCR indicators and corrective measures, group work was carried out to facilitate the gathering of information on the current state of conservation of the property.

Strong political support was provided by Dr Karim Samoura, Secretary General of Guinea’s Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr Faya François Bourouno, Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Crafts, and Ms Soukeynatou Kourouma, representative of the Permanent Delegation of Guinea to UNESCO in Paris.

© MEDD, Guinea, 2023

Working group session (left), and discussions between the representative of the Permanent Delegation of Guinea to UNESCO in Paris and the Secretary General of the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development of Guinea (right).

At the end of the discussions, a multidisciplinary technical group was set up, five (05) key recommendations were made to the States Parties of Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire for effective implementation of the corrective measures, and a costed Action Plan (2024-2025) was drawn up to serve as a compass for the flagship actions in the short term that will help achieve the desired state of conservation. UNESCO is now working with the States Parties and their partners to mobilise the financial resources necessary for the effective implementation of this action plan.