Selous Game Reserve

• Significant decline of wildlife populations due to poaching
• Insufficient funding and management
• Mineral and hydrocarbon prospecting and mining
• Tourism management and development
• Proposed dam development
• Operationalizing the uranium mining project
• Lack of disaster preparedness
• Need for buffer zone
• Need for increased involvement of local communities
• Alien invasive species

Poaching and the ensuing dramatic declines in elephant populations, and the effects thereof on the ecosystem

Drafted

Not yet identified

On 26 February 2016, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/199/documents, which reports progress in addressing conservation issues previously raised by the Committee as follows:

• No mining permits were issued in the property, while recalling the legal possibility of prospecting or mining of oil, gas or uranium in all Tanzanian game reserves since 2009;
• Mobilization of significant support from multilateral, bilateral and NGO sources;
• Increased capacity and efforts in combating poaching resulting in a stabilization of the situation in the property;
• Efforts to enhance coordination among governmental agencies, including through the creation of a multi-agency task force to fight environmental and wildlife crimes;
• Increased bilateral efforts, including an agreement on the transboundary Niassa-Selous Ecosystem signed with Mozambique, as well as efforts to address illegal wildlife trade involving China, in addition to ongoing regional coordination;
• Establishment of the Tanzania Wildlife Authority (TAWA) in October 2015;
• Ongoing stakeholder consultations on the possible addition of new areas to the property at its western boundary and on the creation of a buffer zone;
• Appointment of an inter-ministerial team to monitor the Mkuju River Project (MRP) uranium mine and efforts to establish baselines for water monitoring;
• Confirmation that Uranium One envisages In-Situ Leaching (ISL) at MRP and that no approval for ISL has been granted so far. As for disaster preparedness, reference is made to previously provided information contained in an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for MRP;
• Brazilian construction company Odebrecht has been nominated exclusively to develop the Stiegler’s Gorge Dam project. The company has appointed a local consulting firm to produce an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), jointly with an international expert to be identified. The EIA is reported to start soon and to be submitted to the World Heritage Centre upon completion;
• Submission of the EIA for the proposed Kidunda Dam to the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) for final processing and subsequent sharing with the World Heritage Centre;

Follow-up to all recommendations of the 2013 Reactive Monitoring mission is ongoing, including the elaboration of a proposal for the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR), which was submitted to the World Heritage Centre on 16 May 2016.

The inauguration of TAWA and the increased overall capacity, including additional external support, represent opportunities to improve the management of the property and its surroundings. It will be critically important to effectively operationalize TAWA without delay and to ensure coordination among partners.

Despite signs that the dramatic past decline of elephants could be halted, a cautious interpretation of the survey data continues to be necessary, as specified in the 2013 mission report. While efforts to cooperate with destination countries of illegal wildlife products indicate an increasingly sophisticated response, much still needs to be done to resolve the poaching crisis in order to achieve a doubling of elephant and buffalo populations as proposed in the DSOCR. Studies are ongoing to fill data gaps on the elephant population and to enable the determination, by 2017, of a proposed timeframe for achieving the DSOCR. It should be recalled that the 2013 mission concluded that in addition to elephant, black rhinoceros has also been severely affected by poaching, and that it recommended that the DSOCR should include clear indicators for both elephant and rhino. It is understood that the current availability of data on the black rhinoceros population in the property does not permit the definition in the DSOCR of a clear indicator for its recovery, and it is therefore recommended that the Committee request the State Party to undertake an analysis of the current situation of the black rhinoceros, in order to estimate the number of rhino left in the property, to inform the response required to secure it, and to update the DSOCR accordingly. It is also recommended that the Committee urge again (Decision 39 COM 7A.14) the State Party to develop and implement a comprehensive emergency Action Plan with the objective of halting poaching within the Larger Selous Ecosystem within 12 months, as originally recommended by the 2013 mission.

The appointment of an inter-ministerial team and reported water monitoring related to the Mkuju River Project uranium mine are welcome. It is important to recall the Committee’s request (Decision 38 COM 7B.95) to conduct independent quantitative and qualitative water monitoring, to undertake a new EIA in case of the application of ISL and to ensure disaster preparedness. More detailed information is needed on progress made in that regard and on the overall project status in order to assess whether these Committee requests have been adequately implemented.

Since 2012 (Decision 36 COM 8B.43), the Committee has been requesting the State Party to not engage in any mining activities inside the property, a commitment which was confirmed by the State Party in 2015. Yet the public cadaster of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals (http://portal.mem.go.tz/map/) indicates a major overlap between the property and mining prospecting licenses, a concern raised already by the 2013 mission, some of which have been granted for commodities other than those permitted under the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 of 2009 (such as graphite). As many as eight new applications have been lodged in 2016. Licenses adjacent to the property raise further concerns about the Larger Selous Ecosystem, in particular the Selous-Niassa Corridor.

It should be recalled that the Committee, at its 36th (Saint Petersburg, 2012) and 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) sessions, expressed its utmost concern that the Stiegler’s Gorge project, if approved, could cause serious and irreversible damage to the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and that the 2013 mission recommended the State Party to, clarify unambiguously and in writing the current status of planning and decision-making regarding the project. However, such clarification has not yet been provided. The status of the Kidunda dam project also remains unclear, with a reported major change in its design from a water retention dam to a combined retention dam/hydropower project, which caused delays in the preparation of an ESIA.

It is recommended that the Committee reiterate its request (Decision 37 COM 7B.7) to the State Party to undertake a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in order to comprehensively identify the cumulative impacts of mining, the Stiegler’s Gorge and Kidunda dams, agriculture and associated infrastructure, such as road building, both within the property as well as in important wildlife corridors and dispersal areas that are critical for maintaining the OUV of the property.

The scale of the threats facing the property requires significant additional efforts to be adequately addressed. As human pressure increases, an integrated vision and approach beyond the administrative boundaries of the property with opportunities for local communities to participate in decision-making and benefit-sharing, including in Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), become more urgent, yet little progress is reported in that regard.

As the State Party is reportedly making progress towards addressing the threat from poaching, the mining and proposed dam developments are considered to represent significant additional threats to its OUV. It is therefore recommended that the Committee request the State Party to invite an IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to evaluate progress in combating poaching and to assess the current status and likely impacts of the proposed ISL at the Mkuju River Uranium Mine, the Stiegler’s Gorge and Kidunda dam projects, and prospecting licenses overlapping with and adjacent to the property.

Finally, it is recommended that the Committee retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.