Djibouti undertakes a feasibility study to consider the possible nomination of Day Forest to the World Heritage List
Members of the mission team in the Day Forest ©Culture Directorate of the Republic of Djibouti
Following a grant for International Assistance from the UNESCO World Heritage Fund, the Republic of Djibouti carried-out a feasibility study from 5 to 15 November 2018 in view of a possible nomination of the Day Forest to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The feasibility study was carried out through a close collaboration among the Djibouti Direction for Culture, the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Protected Areas Programme for Africa. The mission team was led by Dr Youssouph DIEDHIOU.
A field visit studied the factors of degradation of the Day Forest, which include: illegal logging, water erosion, and fragmentation of ecosystems. The mission also considered the potential "Outstanding Universal Value" of the site, knowing that to be on the World Heritage List, the sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one of the ten selection criteria.
Following the analysis by the experts who participated in the mission, Djibouti will decide if it will prepare a nomination file for the Day Forest to be proposed for inscription the World Heritage List; and if so, Djibouti will also need to consider whether the threats to the potential “Outstanding Universal Values” of the site would justify a nomination for the List of World Heritage in Danger, which is designed to inform the international community of the conditions threatening the very characteristics that led to the inscription of a property on the World Heritage List and to encourage corrective measures.
Djibouti ratified the World Heritage Convention in 2007. In 2015, Djibouti proposed ten natural and cultural sites on its Tentative List, which is an inventory of the properties that each State Party to the World Heritage Convention intends to propose for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List:
· Tumulus (Awellos)
· Abourma Rock Carvings
· The Historical Urban Landscape of Djibouti City and its specific buildings
· Lake Assal
· Moucha and Maskali Islands
· The Natural Landscapes of the Obock Region
· The National Day Forest
· Assamo Protected Terrestrial Natural Area
· Djalelo Natural Protected Area
· Abbeh Lake: cultural landscape, natural monuments and ecosystem
For more information on the World Heritage Convention, please see: http://whc.unesco.org/en/about/
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