Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE Unesco World Heritage Committee has officially adopted the draft decision on the progress report on the World Heritage Convention and Sustainable Development, acknowledging the Mosi-Oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls Declaration on World Heritage and Sustainable Development in Africa.
The milestone was reached on Saturday last week during the committee’s meeting in Paris, France.
The declaration emphasises that Africa’s cultural and natural heritage should catalyse sustainable development, peace-building and the promotion of human dignity.
It calls for integrating heritage into national development plans and highlights the importance of empowering communities as custodians and co-managers of heritage.
Zambia’s nature expert on the World Heritage Committee, Kagosi Mwamulowe, presented amendments to the draft decision, which were supported by Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
“The declaration will serve as a foundation for fostering sustainable development projects that will transform the livelihoods of local communities in and around world heritage sites in Africa, while showcasing Victoria Falls as a sustainable tourism model,” Mwamulowe said.
He said the declaration aimed to promote Africa’s cultural and natural heritage as a catalyst for sustainable development, peace-building and human dignity.
The committee’s adoption of the amended decision requires the World Heritage Centre and advisory bodies to support African State parties in implementing the declaration, subject to the availability of budgetary resources.
However, the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site faces increasing threats from individual and cumulative infrastructural developments.
Unesco’s report warns that the site’s outstanding universal values could be considered in danger if current development proposals proceed without proper consideration for the environment.
The proposed Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Scheme has given rise to concerns about its potential impact on the ecological status of the Victoria Falls.
Unesco’s World Heritage Committee also called on State parties to revise the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context.
The Victoria Falls World Heritage Site is also threatened by tourism infrastructural development, noise pollution and waste management issues.
Effective regulation and control of tourism development pressures will be crucial for site managers.
The Joint Integrated Management Plan for the property is being revised to incorporate necessary safeguards and thresholds to mitigate against developmental pressures for the protection of the property’s outstanding universal value.
The Unesco World Heritage Committee also expressed concern over the increasing tourism infrastructural development pressures within and around the property, including the start of the construction of the Mosi-oa-Tunya Livingstone Resort Hotel within the buffer zone of the property.
The committee called on State parties to halt further activities until further consultation with the World Heritage Centre and IUCN have taken place and all relevant environmental and social impact assessments have been submitted to the World Heritage Centre and reviewed by IUCN.
It further indicated that the potential impacts of the infrastructural developments on the outstanding universal values of the property should also be adequately assessed.
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