Greater Serengeti Conservation Society

Report on the Joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring Mission To Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park (SENAPA) comprises 1,476,300 hectares of vast savannah plains and open woodland, situated in north-western Tanzania. The property was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981 under criteria (vii) and (x). The annual ungulate migration is an outstanding natural phenomenon which takes place in a unique scenic setting of treeless expanses of grasslands dotted with rocky outcrops (kopjes) interspersed with rivers. The Park is one of the most productive ecosystems on earth, sustaining the largest number of ungulates and the highest concentration of large predators in the world. The wildebeest migration is considered to be one of the most impressive nature spectacles in the world.

The property is at the heart of the transboundary Greater Serengeti Mara Ecosystem (GSME), which straddles the border between Tanzania and Kenya. The wildebeest migration moves around the GSME, in a clockwise movement in search of pasture, water and adequate breeding grounds. The migration drives the ecosystem in terms of nutrient flow and is shaping the health of the vegetation and maintaining the grassland areas.

At its 42nd session in Manama, Bahrain (2018), the World Heritage Committee requested the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring Mission to the property “to assess threats posed by the dams proposed upstream of the property in Kenya, and any other developments that may impact the property’s [Outstanding Universal Value] OUV”. The mission was originally planned for March 2020 but had to be postponed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. At its extended 45th session, the World Heritage Committee reiterated its request for the mission to be organised as soon as possible. The mission was also tasked to review the status and plans of further infrastructure developments in and adjacent to the property including consideration of potential impacts on the OUV and to review progress made to implement the 2010 Reactive Monitoring Mission recommendations and assess the management effectiveness of the property.

The mission took place from 15 to 19 January 2024 and the mission team was composed of Guy Debonnet (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) and Daniel Marnewick (IUCN).

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