Introduction

The concept of ‘transnational management of cultural and natural sites’ can refer to the effective implementation of good practices and mechanisms at sites of cultural and/or natural significance, with a view to their sustainable management. Typically, these sites are located in contiguous areas of States that share the same borders and establish mutually agreed mechanisms for their management. The sustainable management of transboundary cultural, natural and mixed heritage sites in sub-Saharan African countries continues to pose enormous challenges, yet it could contribute to promoting peace in these countries, where the majority of the populations are victims of terrorism, social tensions and widespread poverty. Whether, for example, it is a question of the same protected area extending on both sides of a border as serial properties or a group of different sites, but linked by the same theme, the typology of transnational sites is diverse and requires the establishment of a transnational cooperation strategy that can provide mechanisms adapted to the African continent.

There are 3942 transnational properties on the World Heritage List, including the Sangha Trinational. The inscription onto the World Heritage List of this first transboundary natural site, in 2012, at the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee in St Petersburg, Russia, was the first successful cooperation between Cameroon (Lobéké National Park), the Central African Republic (CAR) (Dzanga-Ndoki National Park) and the Republic of Congo (Nouala-Ndoki National Park) under the first phase of the Central Africa World Heritage Forest Initiative (CAWHFI) project. To this end, and building on the experience of this successful transnational cooperation with the Sangha Trinational, Cameroon has strengthened the momentum through new projects with the State of Nigeria and other States Parties to the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (hereafter ‘the 1972 Convention’) (UNESCO, 2017). This article aims to present some of the actions carried out within this framework, to evaluate their relevance through the good practices resulting from the protection, management, monitoring and presentation of the Sangha Trinational, and to highlight the advantages, as well as the limitations, of transnational cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Cameroon in particular.

Cross-border cooperation aims at strengthening and developing relations between the territorial communities or authorities of two or more States, in order to create links or contractual agreements in the border regions to provide solutions to common problems. In Cameroon, some actions are carried out in this specific field with regard to the effective implementation of the 1972 Convention.

Actions carried out in Cameroon for cross-border cooperation

The Republic of Cameroon has been a State Party to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage since 7 December 1982. For the past three years, the country has been involved in initiatives for the joint inscription of sites onto the World Heritage List that share an Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) with other countries. In a concerted and concrete manner, the actions carried out in Cameroon through certain projects (either in progress or in the short, medium or long term) are the results of an agreement between the countries concerned by these joint projects, with procedures that require the collaboration of the different stakeholders. The implementation of these projects is, on the one hand, the result of the will of the countries concerned to effectively implement the 1972 Convention and, on the other, of the support of international technical and financial partners, notably UNESCO, the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), the African Development Bank (ADB), the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), the European Union and many others.

Effective transnational cooperation: The cultural landscape of Lake Chad

One of the more visible forms of cooperation by the Government of Cameroon is its involvement in the BIOPALT (Biosphere and Heritage of Lake Chad) project. This project aims at strengthening the capacities of the member states of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) to safeguard and sustainably manage the hydrological, biological and cultural resources of the lake, in order to contribute to poverty reduction and the promotion of peace in and around the basin. The Lake Chad Basin is of vital economic and ecological importance and supports more than 40 million people in Cameroon, the CAR, Chad, Niger and Nigeria (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.
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Map of the Lake Chad Basin. © Sébastien Moriset. (The names and boundaries shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations).

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In addition to the two main components of the project, other activities include the establishment of an early warning system for droughts and floods, the ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems with a special focus on income-generating activities (IGAs) through the promotion of the green economy, and the enhancement of the natural resources of the basin. This project has so far focused on assisting the countries concerned in the preparation of a file for the creation of a transnational biosphere reserve in the basin and a proposal for the transnational inscription of the Lake Chad cultural landscape as a World Heritage property. In this paper, we will examine the second component of the project, which is supporting four of the above-mentioned countries in preparing the dossier for the nomination of Lake Chad as a cultural landscape, a process which is now nearing the end. This has so far enabled the strengthening and development of a common vision for this project through regular technical meetings, data-collection missions in the different countries, and various studies that have helped to enrich the knowledge of this landscape. The results of these meetings are concrete, such as the harmonization of the tentative lists of cultural, natural and mixed properties of the said countries, the sharing of knowledge on the property and the strengthening of capacities in the preparation of nomination files for the prestigious World Heritage List. Furthermore, these meetings, which fostered collaboration between cultural and natural heritage professionals from these countries by contributing to the pooling of human resources, made it possible to submit the nomination file to the Secretariat of the World Heritage Convention before the required deadline of 1 February 2020. This transnational inscription will strengthen cooperation and successful subregional integration in favour of the promotion of peace and through transnational mechanisms of safeguarding and sustainable protection for future generations, through effective management, efficient monitoring and concerted enhancement of the Lake Chad cultural landscape.

Ongoing cross-border cooperation

For nearly three years, consultations have been underway with the State of Nigeria with a view to jointly nominating certain cultural and natural properties for the World Heritage List. The steps taken have helped to achieve effective collaboration through the establishment of a formal framework for exchanges between the two States, which has made it possible to begin discussions on the prerequisites and the actual nomination process for these two sites. The harmonization of the Tentative List of the two countries has been achieved. Two projects are underway, namely, the extension of the Diy-Gid-Biy (DGB) Cultural Landscape of the Mandara Mountains (on the Cameroon side) to the Sukur Cultural Landscape (on the Nigeria side), which has been inscribed on the World Heritage List since 1999, and the nomination of Takamanda and Korup National Parks in Cameroon and Oban Hills in Cross River State, Nigeria. As these sites are located in conflict zones, World Heritage status through these transnational inscriptions could further encourage the two nations and their peoples to live in harmony and contribute to the strengthening of subregional cooperation and integration for the promotion of peace.

The transnational inscription project for the Diy-Gid-Biy Cultural Landscape, extending to the Sukur Cultural Landscape

The DGB Cultural Landscape is a collection of 16 serial archaeological sites in 7 villages, consisting of terraces and platforms spanning the Mandara Mountain range, which is shared by Cameroon and Nigeria (see Figures 2 and 3). The DGB sites are monumental sites predating Sukur, located in a densely occupied and domesticated modern mountain environment, imbued with cultural and symbolic meaning. They constitute the first well-established proof of human occupation in this part of the country, which has an extremely hostile climate. The presence of these archaeological ruins probably represents the native responses to the great droughts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (MacEachern and David, 2013). They are a prominent example of land use in harsh and extremely difficult conditions and are associated with beliefs that have meaning for the present-day communities living there. There have been exchanges with the Nigerian side and other stakeholders for several years. These have been intensified over the last two years through technical meetings and field missions by experts from the countries concerned, with the support of UNESCO, the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and the School of African Heritage (EPA), and experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).

Figure 2.
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Map of the DGB Cultural Landscape. © Bobo Aboubakar. (The names and boundaries shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations).

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Figure 3.
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Map of the DGB Cultural Landscape. © Bobo Aboubakar. (The names and boundaries shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations).

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In a joint approach, a comparative study between the two sites has been developed to determine the possibility of an extension with the Sukur Cultural Landscape in Nigeria. The two States Parties have thus far been able to carry out joint actions around this project and to elaborate the transnational nomination dossier for the DGB Cultural Landscape as an extension to the Sukur Cultural Landscape. This extension will certainly have a positive impact on the process of building a lasting peace in this area threatened by terrorism. To this end, the enhancement of this site will allow international recognition of this ‘forgotten heritage’ that has played an important social, cultural and political role in the life of the Mafa community. This process will contribute to restoring the dignity of the local communities, which have been violated by the exactions of the Boko Haram sect. It could also contribute to the strengthening of transnational safeguarding and sustainable management mechanisms for future generations.

The proposed inscription of Takamanda and Korup National Parks in Cameroon and Oban and Okwangwo National Parks in Cross River State, Nigeria

The Cross River-Korup Takamanda National Parks (CRIKOT) lie between the Cross River in eastern Nigeria and the Sanaga River in western Cameroon. These parks consist of diverse lowland ecosystems, including some of the highest and most species-rich tropical rainforests on the planet, as well as savannah and montane forest habitats at higher elevations. This transnational nomination is based on its OUV as defined in criteria (ix) and (x) of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. The process goes back several decades, although there were political obstacles to transnational collaboration in the 1960s–2000s, but on the ground, dialogue continued between the technical experts, and a new phase of fuller cooperation became possible after 2006. Since then, joint commitments have been made and a formal basis has been in existence since 2019 for carrying out this work, which has evolved in terms of taking into account the basic elements of transnational conservation. Actions related to transnational conservation and sustainable development in the region have thus been undertaken, through consultations between the different stakeholders and capacity building of professionals for the elaboration of the site’s nomination dossier.

Possibilities of cooperation to be considered

Within the framework of the effective implementation of the 1972 Convention, an action plan was elaborated with the aim of attracting the interest of decision-makers and proposing relevant actions that could eventually improve the representativeness of African sites on the World Heritage List in general, and Cameroon in particular, through the elaboration of relevant and successful nomination dossiers.

Proposals were made to consider the possibility of carrying out cross-border or transnational cooperation actions with other countries bordering Cameroon. Because of its geographical position in Central Africa, Cameroon borders six countries (Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, the CAR and Chad). It is also located at the mouth of the Gulf of Guinea, which includes eight coastal countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, namely Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe and Togo.

Looking at the edge of this area, we notice the presence of several parks, several wetlands of international importance, classified as Ramsar sites, marine turtle conservation villages and slave embarkation ports in coastal African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Cameroon and other areas that served as slave markets during the transatlantic slave trade between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and which are considered places of memory. In order to contribute to the preservation of these natural and cultural resources and to promote peace in conflict areas, much more thought could be given to finding links between these sites and to developing a transboundary and transnational proposal. Cooperation agreements exist between these countries of the Gulf of Guinea, but they do not visibly have a positive impact on the bad practices that persist, such as piracy and the illicit exploitation of natural resources, or on the prevention and resolution of conflicts between States and riparian communities.

Good practices in the Sangha Trinational

Despite the efforts made by the States Parties of Cameroon, the CAR and Congo to maintain the OUV of the Sangha Trinational, through the implementation of the 1972 Convention and the recommendations of the World Heritage Committee, the property faces a number of challenges, including containing the potentially high demand for biological resources due to:

  • the unemployment of many workers in some forestry companies;

  • a security environment that has been undermined by the circulation of weapons and munitions of war used for poaching purposes, especially targeting the African forest elephant.

Thanks to internal resources and the support of development partners, some substantial actions can be considered as good practices that aim to better protect the Sangha Trinational. These concrete actions contribute to the preservation of the integrity of the property, through the implementation of certain concrete activities, notably the sensitization of stakeholders; the development of income-generating activities; the fight against poaching and other forms of environmental crimes; strengthening the capacities of the management bodies of the property; taking into account human rights, in particular those of vulnerable indigenous peoples; the promotion of the well-being of the riparian communities; and the involvement of all stakeholders in the management of the property.

Some examples of concrete actions

In terms of operation

The Sangha Trinational is not only the first transnational natural site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List but it is also a model of successful international cooperation with its four functional consultation bodies, including:

  • the annual Curators’ Meeting;

  • the Technical Planning and Implementation Committee (TPIC), which brings together the conservation departments of the three States with key local stakeholders in the periphery of the protected areas;

  • the Technical Monitoring Committee (CTS), which is a body bringing together the conservation services of the three States with stakeholders at the level of the departments of jurisdiction, and which is chaired on a rotating basis by the prefects; and

  • Technical Monitoring Committee A, which brings together the conservation services of the three States with national experts under the rotating chairmanship of the ministers.

In terms of funding

A sustainable funding mechanism is being implemented through the Fondation Trinational de la Sangha (FTNS). Similarly, the property and its buffer zone benefit from a management plan, the implementation of which involves local and Indigenous communities, as well as international conservation NGOs, notably WCS and WWF, which have long provided financial and technical support. The CAWHFI initiative accompanies capacity-building activities of the conservation services in the three States.

Actions for the effective protection and management of the Sangha Trinational

The Sangha Trinational has a strong protection and management system, enjoying the highest legal status of protection in the three countries. In 2000, the governments of these States Parties signed a ‘Cooperation Agreement’ for the joint management of the Sangha Trinational. In addition, for better cross-border surveillance, an anti-poaching brigade (BLAB) made up of eco-guards from the three countries has been set up. On the scientific level, a committee called Sangha was created, a structure for the coordination of scientific research in the Sangha Trinational under the technical supervision of IUCN, which is one of the advisory bodies of the World Heritage Convention.

In order to address the complex issues involved in the transnational management of such a property, the three States Parties have opted to sign a multitude of agreements. These include:

  • the Memorandum of Understanding Governing the Free Movement of Personnel within the Sangha Trinational Area;

  • the Memorandum of Understanding on the Movement of Tourists in the Sangha Trinational; and

  • the Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of the Sangha Trinational Scientific Committee, whose role is to strengthen the scientific contribution of the Sangha group.

These last two instruments, signed on 17 October 2019, were widely popularized among the various actors involved in the chain of their implementation.

An example of an endogenous cross-border conflict prevention and resolution system

One of the great scourges at the root of the problems of insecurity of persons and property, as well as crises affecting the heritage of peoples, is the conflicts that prevent the full development of the latter. This is why some have resorted to endogenous methods of conflict resolution that can involve transnational cooperation and allow for the effective management of World Heritage sites, as in the case of the Sangha Trinational. The Nga’a Mo (rite of peace, harmony and balance) is an example of one such method of conflict resolution. It was trialled in 2010 to protect villages in Cameroon bordering the CAR, from the attacks of the rebel groups. This method of using traditional conflict resolution knowledge has helped to maintain a climate of peace between the border populations of Cameroon and the CAR. Practised only by initiated women, the Oko’o Gan Mo (women of peace), this purification rite of the Gbaya society, present in eastern Cameroon and the CAR, has helped preserve the natural habitat of the populations around the Sangha Trinational.

Benefits and limitations of cross-border cooperation

Benefits of cross-border cooperation

Faced with the challenges of adjusting procedures linked to the implementation of the 1972 Convention, transnational cooperation helps countries to overcome obstacles in a concerted manner, and also to help each other. It makes subregional integration possible through exchanges and the establishment of better management and protection systems for cultural and natural properties, for which the countries concerned decide to combine their efforts for effective implementation. Also, it enhances the skills of professionals, good practices and the harmonization of the management and monitoring mechanisms of the sites. Moreover, it allows the realization of an economy of scale and the creation of employment.

In addition, cross-border cooperation is crucial in resolving conflicts, security issues and helping to preserve biodiversity and manage heritage risks.

Limitations of cross-border cooperation

In general, the development of a cross-border project takes much longer than a national project. There is no doubt that this difficulty is linked to the inadequacy of legal instruments, the complexity of procedures, the length of time projects take to develop and the heterogeneity of decision-making processes among the various stakeholders. In addition to these factors, there is insufficient capacity building for professionals in charge of cross-border issues, due to the inadequate mobilization of financial resources.

However, these various difficulties linked to the effectiveness of transnational cooperation are not serious enough to threaten the interest and validity of this cooperation in the preservation and security of World Heritage properties.

Conclusion

In spite of the cumbersome administrative procedures, there is a real awareness within Cameroonian institutions of the effective implementation of the 1972 Convention through the steps taken by the ministerial departments concerned, which have so far enabled the start of the implementation of these projects. However, the option of putting in place a national strategy for cross-border cooperation is necessary, in order to enable the government to ensure continuity within the framework of the Convention and to strengthen the actions underway, so that the mechanisms set in motion are implemented in a sustainable manner. This would consist of showing the importance of the concerted management of transnational sites in sub-Saharan Africa through a few examples of success, ongoing projects and possible projects. Indeed, transnational cooperation is an effective and sustainable management tool that Cameroon, through the Sangha Trinational, has been able to trial with the States sharing this site. It therefore wishes, thanks to the initiatives undertaken, to continue along this path by nominating other properties such as the DGB cultural landscape, and the Cross River-Korup Takamanda (CRIKOT) national parks with the State of Nigeria, and to reflect on other projects. In general, cross-border cooperation is a tool that helps to bring countries closer together, to promote peace and the mixing of cultures; specifically, heritage unites people and is a vector of peace. However, in the context of improving this tool and adapting it to endogenous methods of conflict resolution, some proposals might be made. In this case, firstly, it would be desirable, as far as possible, to create a framework for consultation with a view to pooling efforts in the management of the African cultural and natural heritage for better protection and development of the territories; secondly, to effectively put in place a strategy that should constitute the roadmap or one of the priorities for the States Parties wishing to carry out transnational cooperation actions in this particular field of conservation for the benefit of present and future generations; thirdly, to strengthen and encourage the use of traditional knowledge, through inventories of traditional know-how, their codification and the organization of cultural festivals (the proliferation of these festivals would make it possible to revive endogenous methods which tend to disappear in African societies); and, finally, to further encourage States Parties to set up National Commissions of the World Heritage Committee for a better implementation and effective monitoring of the World Heritage Convention.