Decision : 35 COM 7B.36
Ngorongoro Conservation Area (United Republic of Tanzania) (C/N 39)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/7B,

2. Recalling Decisions 34 COM 7B.4 and 34COM 8B.13, adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010),

3. Takes note of the progress reported by the State Party in addressing the 2007 and 2008 missions recommendations, and in particular the ban on agriculture and the shift towards a strategy to improve livestock in the property;

4. Considers that the work on livestock improvement should be part of a larger strategy on pastoralism for the property, which takes into account its carrying capacity and which respects both the natural and cultural attributes of its Outstanding Universal Value;

5. Also considers that despite the progress achieved, the property continues to face serious pressures from tourism and the growing resident population, and reiterates the importance of ensuring effective stakeholder involvement in land-use planning, the development of more transparent and effective benefit-sharing mechanisms as well as a realistic overall tourism strategy;

6. Requests the State Party to ensure that the proposals to upgrade the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) road network are subject to a proper Environmental Impact Assessment, including a Heritage Impact Assessment, and that a clear 'road strategy' for both Ngorongoro and the Serengeti is developed on the basis of this Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA);

7. Urges the State Party to implement all the recommendations of the 2007 and 2008 monitoring missions to address the multiple threats affecting the natural values of the property, as well as the recommendations of the World Heritage Committee made at its 34th session and the 2011 World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission, in particular:

a) to finalise and operationalise the Memorandum of Understanding between the Antiquities Department and NCAA to pave the way for an integrated management of both natural and cultural heritage and to unlock both financial and human resources for this process,

b) to provide details of the specific area and location of the palaeo-anthropological resources, including specific boundaries for Laetoli, Lake Ndutu, Nasera, and the Ngorongoro Burial Mounds, and for their sensitive settings, to ensure their protection; of sensitive archaeological landscapes throughout the property; of the location of finds from all palaeo-anthropological sites; of conservation plans for all palaeo-anthropological localities,

c) to develop and adopt formal research guidelines for the collection, reporting, curation, and conservation of archaeological and paleo-anthropological remains that are in compliance with the Antiquities Act and other applicable international standards,

d) to submit a comprehensive report on the partial excavation of the Laetoli footprints, including any preliminary reports to the World Heritage Centre,

e) to submit any potential plans for construction at the Zinjanthropus site in Olduvai Gorge to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines,

f) to convene an international scientific committee that draws together experts in conservation and palaeontology, with the involvement of the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, to assess the report on the partial excavation of the footprints, in the context of future decisions on the protection and presentation of the Laetoli site;

8. Also requests the State Party to halt any further action at the Laetoli site until this full scientific assessment has been considered by the World Heritage Committee;

9. Further requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/IUCN reactive monitoring mission to assess progress in the implementation of the mission recommendations and in particular in the development of integrated management of both natural and cultural heritage;

10. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2012, a detailed report on the state of conservation of the property, including an update on the implementation of the 2007, 2008 and 2011 missions recommendations and the report of the international scientific committee on the Laetoli footprints, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012.