AWF Reiterates 'No Go' Policy in World Heritage Sites

This week, at the 39th Session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee Meeting in Bonn, Germany, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is once again calling on governments and extractive industries to adopt a ‘no go’ and ‘no impact’ policy in and around World Heritage Sites in Africa.

Of Africa’s 37 natural World Heritage Sites, 13 of these are on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger, and another 10 sites have been rated of “significant concern” by the 2014 IUCN World Heritage Outlook.

In a statement distributed during the Bonn meeting, AWF warned that urgent action was needed to stop the trend of encroachment and exploitation in many of Africa’s natural World Heritage Sites:

“Despite the legal protections bestowed upon World Heritage Site properties, the growing demand for natural resources has placed an increasing number of these under threat, in particular from extractive activities. While recognizing the economic benefits that mineral, oil and gas exploration and extraction might bring to host countries, the potential impacts on the environment and ecosystem services are many, and may include habitat destruction, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water pollution and topsoil contamination. Such environmental impacts and the potential loss of a World Heritage Site may limit the possibilities for alternative, broad-based sustainable development with longer-term benefits for communities and wildlife.”

The statement further spotlighted several sites in Africa currently under threat, including Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains National Park and Cameroon’s Dja Faunal Reserve. Inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites in 1978, Simien Mountains National Park is Ethiopia’s only natural World Heritage Site and is home to a number of rare and endemic species, including the Ethiopian wolf, one of the world’s rarest canids, the Walia ibex, and the Gelada baboon. Due to encroachment on the park and a decline in the Ethiopian wolf and Walia ibex populations, the park was put on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger in 1996.

AWF is currently working with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority to reduce encroachment and pressure on the park, develop a tourism plan and improve tourism facilities in the park, train scouts and community guides, construct and invest in a cluster of conservation primary schools for nearby local communities, and effectively conserve both the Ethiopian wolf and Walia ibex.

In Cameroon, bushmeat hunting has severely impacted wildlife populations in the Dja Faunal Reserve, including western lowland gorillas, central chimpanzees and forest elephants. Deforestation and mining around the reserve pose additional threats, both to its ecological integrity and to forest corridors connecting Dja and its wildlife to other protected areas in neighboring Republic of Congo and Gabon.

AWF is presently working with the Dja Conservation Service to conduct ecological-monitoring and anti-poaching patrols in the reserve, using CyberTracker, SMART and other tools to increase effectiveness and efficiency.

To help monitor World Heritage Sites in Africa and ensure they maintain their World Heritage status, AWF and a number of conservation groups formed the Africa World Heritage Site Support Network (AWHSSN) in 2014.

To learn more about the AWHSSN and to read AWF’s statement as presented at this week’s 39th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Meeting in Bonn, visit www.awf.org/worldheritagesites.