Timbuktu

• Occupation of the property by armed groups
• Lack of management structure at the site (problem resolved in 2019)
• Armed conflict

• Occupation of the property by armed groups
• Absence of management
• Destruction of 14 mausoleums and degradation of the three mosques in the serial property

In progress 

Adopted, see page https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6622 

In progress

Total amount granted: USD 100,000 from the Italian Funds-in-Trust; USD 55,000 from the UNESCO Emergency Fund; USD 37,516 from the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust; approximately USD 12 million in the framework of the “Action Plan for the Rehabilitation of the Cultural Heritage and the Safeguarding of Ancient Manuscripts” managed by UNESCO or bilaterally (including the European Union, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Croatia, Mauritius, Germany, Luxembourg, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEOMA), the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), the African World Heritage Fund, ICOM); USD 480,934 from the International Criminal Court (ICC) Trust Fund for Victims for the “Rehabilitation and enhancement of protected buildings in Timbuktu” project; USD 15,000 from the International Alliance for Heritage Protection in Conflict Zones (ALIPH), Exceptional Relief Fund to support the heritage sector in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 31 January 2024, the State Party submitted a State of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/119/documents/, providing the following information:

• The security situation remains worrying, especially with the withdrawal of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA);
• Most of the actions presented were carried out in the context of collective reparations under the ICC Trust Fund for Victims;
• A company has been selected to undertake the planting of trees around the mausoleums to limit silting;
• The installation of solar-powered lampposts around protected buildings is planned;
• Management committees will be set up for each cemetery housing mausoleums of saints. Letters to this effect have been sent to the Prefect and the Mayor of Timbuktu;
• Work is underway to renovate the fences at two cemeteries;
• The periodic rough plastering of the Djingareyber mosque took place in March 2024, in keeping with tangible and intangible tradition;
• The Cultural Mission and the traditional stakeholders are facing a shortage of technical and financial resources, which affects the conservation and management of the site;
• An International Assistance request has been submitted to update the management and conservation plan;
• Since January 2024, a company has been carrying out drainage work on the old fabric free of charge (cleaning the gutters and removing sand from the streets adjacent to the mosques);
• An association made up of young volunteers has cleaned up the Djingareyber mosque and trimmed trees around the cemetery housing mausoleums;
• Three information and awareness-raising meetings have been held with mosque management committees, masons' guilds, mausoleum managers and civil society;
• Two training sessions for community leaders and working meetings with neighbourhood chiefs and civil society have been held in preparation for the rehabilitation work;
• A collective reparations monitoring committee has been set up by the Governor;
• Two motorbikes have been purchased for the Cultural Mission to monitor activities and 50 chairs for meetings with the various stakeholders;
• The work carried out to establish the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) will be finalized during 2024.

The State Party's report indicates that some modest progress has been made in implementing the corrective measures, despite the continuing unstable security situation, which has been exacerbated by the withdrawal of MINUSMA. The continued mobilisation of communities and traditional stakeholders, as well as the establishment of committees dedicated to the preparation and monitoring of the rehabilitation actions, are noted with great appreciation.

The planting of trees to counter the silting up around mosques and mausoleums is appreciated. However, to remedy the silting up of the Niger River, which leads to the silting up of mosques, concerted strategic action needs to be taken on a scale other than the urban level. The planting of new trees alone will not be sufficient to address the issue of the wood supply needed for construction and long-term rehabilitation.

It is also reassuring to note the periodic rough plastering of the Djingareyber mosque, which demonstrates the ongoing efforts to perpetuate traditional conservation, thus also enhancing the intangible dimension of this heritage. The State Party should be encouraged to further document this work in order to better promote the preservation of authenticity through the transmission of this knowledge regarding the use of materials and the application of techniques, as well as cultural and customary functions and meanings.

The efforts made to raise awareness and mobilise stakeholders, in particular civil society and the management committees in charge of the mausoleums, through consultation and monitoring meetings, or to explain the decisions of the World Heritage Committee, are to be commended.

One of the most encouraging results of the commitment of local stakeholders is the voluntary initiative of the association made up of young volunteers from the Djingareyber district, which has carried out work to drain and clean the gutters in the town, remove sand near the mosques of Djingareyber, Sankoré and Sidi Yahia, and maintain the cemeteries.

Furthermore, the strengthened management by the management committees has demonstrated its participatory and effective nature, allowing for the prevention of any action likely to have a negative impact on the property. However, as the site's 2018-2022 management and conservation plan (plan de gestion et de conservation - PGC) has expired, efforts to raise funds, in particular through the submission of an International Assistance request, to update it in conjunction with the PGCs for the other three Malian properties, are appreciated. But it is also essential that the State Party invests more in making up for the lack of financial and human resources of the Cultural Mission of Timbuktu and those of the other properties in Mali, so that they can ensure the effective and sustainable management of the property concerned..

Finally, the work of updating the PGC will have to be carried out in conjunction with the finalisation of the development of the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) scheduled for 2024, which will also include a costed action plan, for adoption by the Committee at its next session in 2025.

In the meantime, it is recommended that the Committee retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger and continue the application of the Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism for the property.