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Banc d’Arguin National Park (Mauritania) (N 506)

Document type
Decision
Reference number
7B.8
Date
Jun 16, 2013
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Status
Active
Subject
Wild species & ecosystems
Treaty
Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Nov 23, 1972)
Meeting
37e session du Comité
Website
whc.unesco.org
Abstract

The World Heritage Committee,

1.  Having examined Document WHC-13/37.COM/7B.Add,

2.  Recalling Decision 33 COM 7B.11 , adopted at its 33rd session (Seville, 2009),

3.  Commends the State Party for its rapid response to the letter from the World Heritage Centre and for the exemplary management of the property;

4.  Requests the State Party to take all necessary measures to ensure that the mining activities undertaken in the region of the property do not have a negative impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and reiterates that mining activities and oil and gas exploration and exploitation are incompatible with World Heritage status;

5.  Welcomes the information provided by the State Party that work on the road that would connect the village of Mamghar with the Nouakchott – Nouadhibou road has been halted, pending the implementation of a number of ministerial conditions, and also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre copies of the Environmental Impact Assessments for this road and the other developments in the municipality of Nouamghar, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines ;

6.  Further requests the State Party to notify the World Heritage Committee of any development that might negatively impact the property before any decisions are taken that are difficult to reverse, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines ;

7.  Encourages the State Party to continue providing adequate financial and material resources to the park authorities in order to prevent illegal fishing within and in the immediate surroundings of the property;

8.  Requests furthermore the State Party to invite an IUCN reactive monitoring mission to the property, in order to assess the potential impacts from mining, fisheries and oil exploration on the OUV of the property and the measures taken to mitigate them and provide recommendations for the continued protection of its OUV;

9.  Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2015 , a report on the state of conservation of the property, including a report on progress with the implementation of the above requests, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in 2015.