Lake Malawi National Park

• Fishing/collecting aquatic resources
• Identity, social cohesion, changes in local population and community
• Illegal activities
• Invasive / alien freshwater species
• Management systems/ management plan
• Surface water pollution  
• Oil and gas exploration/exploitation

Total amount granted: USD 50,000 in 2015 through the UNESCO World Heritage Sustainable Tourism programme (Flanders Funds-in-Trust); USD 45,000 in 2019 through the UNESCO-Netherlands Funds- in-Trust; USD 300,000 in 2020-2021 through UNESCO/Government of Norway cooperation

On 4 April 2023 the State Party of Malawi submitted a state of conservation report for the property available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/289/documents/, reporting the following:

• Continuous effort to strengthen management capacity, including through resource allocation, enhanced community participation, patrols and law enforcement which cover a greater area, in partnership with Government and other partners;
• Research cooperation and international support including from the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and UNESCO assistance with management and monitoring of aquatic and terrestrial components of the property, tourism development and community-based conservation efforts;
• Based on the above, resource use guidelines are being developed, and management effectiveness assessment conducted;
• Demarcation and clarification of the terrestrial and aquatic boundaries have been continued, with a topographic map produced;
• Awareness raising and environmental education programmes continue;
• Oil exploration licences valid until 2022 have been issued for blocks 2 and 3 of the total three blocks overlapping with the lake, in the northern and central basin, away from the property located to the south;
• Property extension or establishment of buffer zones would be difficult due to growing demand for farmland and fishing grounds;
• All proposed projects potentially affecting the property would be subject to impact assessments as per World Heritage guidance;
• Expansion of enclave settlements and tourism construction outside the property, pollution and fish trade are among the identified threats.

On 27 July and 15 December 2021, the World Heritage Centre sent letters to the State Party in response to its submission of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Mangochi Potable Water Supply project within the property. On 29 March 2023, the World Heritage Centre transferred to the State Party third-party information reporting severe coastal siltation caused by the project.

On 7 July 2022, the World Heritage Centre sent a letter to the State Party on the planned upgrade and rehabilitation of the Monkey Bay-Cape Maclear Road project in response to the State Party’s notification.

The joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property took place between 27 March and 2 April 2022 in line with Decision 44 COM 7B.82 (the mission report is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/289/documents/).

The reported efforts of the State Party, in partnership with several partners, to strengthen the management and protection of the property is commendable. By enhancing operational, monitoring and research capacity, and improving cooperation with local communities and across Government departments, these activities address management priorities, but also require careful coordination to ensure efforts are coherent and contribute to the protection of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). All major outputs, such as the assessment on management effectiveness and the resource use guidelines, should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre and shared with IUCN. The State Party submitted, for review by World Heritage Centre, a topographic map which may assist the conclusion of the Retrospective Inventory of the property boundaries by the World Heritage Centre. Support from partners is an opportunity to implement and feed into the next update of the 2019-2024 Management Plan, and to address the recommendations of the 2022 Reactive Monitoring mission, including the need to address the excessive resource use and illegal agricultural encroachment within the property, enhance and implement a comprehensive monitoring protocol for the property, and to monitor the ecological health of the lake.

While the 2022 mission confirmed the State Party’s notable progress, it noted that due to its small size and serial configuration (with 16 separate component parts), the property remains very vulnerable to human pressures, originating both within and beyond its boundaries. Cape Maclear peninsula within the property was reported as significantly degraded through excessive resource use, and over-fishing and long-term water quality changes alter the lake ecology. To better protect its OUV, the mission also re-confirmed the desirability of an extension of the property, as it has been noted previously by the Committee (see e.g., Decision 44 COM 7B.82). The World Heritage Centre and IUCN encourage the State Party to assess the feasibility of a potential extension, notably within the lake, and to request International Assistance and technical support for this work as required. Such a feasibility study would document the constraints due to land and resource use pressure but also the potential benefits including sustainable fisheries.

In agreement with the State Party, the 2022 mission reviewed the proposed Mangochi water supply project on the small Nkhudzi Hills component of the property. However, at the time of the mission, the construction was already at an advanced stage limiting the mission’s possibility to provide technical inputs to the project design and execution to ensure protection of the property’s OUV. Recent reports note severe coastal siltation due to runoff caused by vegetation that was cleared for the access road to the hill-top water tank. This affects the habitat of the cichlid fish, and visual integrity, and could therefore have a direct impact on the OUV and impact the viability of the project; regrettably no updated information was received from the State Party. Furthermore, in March 2022, the European Investment Bank (EIB) initiated a Complaints Mechanism process for the SRWB Water Supply and Sanitation Programme and its Mangochi component (https://www.eib.org/​en/about/​accountability/​complaints/cases/srwb-water-supply-and-sanitation-programme-sg-e-2022-05), which will review the recommendations stemming from the 2022 mission.

While access to clean and safe drinking water is essential, the mission reported that the project had moved forward without sufficient consideration of alternative locations, environmental safeguards and regard for stakeholder concerns raised at the proposal stage. Any damage caused to date should be fully documented and restored as fully as possible using the best available practices that avoid further deterioration, including through further tree cutting, siltation, introduction/expansion of invasive species and illegal resource harvest. Independently verified mitigation measures should be implemented as set out in the project ESIA. This documentation, including the accompanying emergency response plan and heritage management plan proposed by the State Party, should have been made available before the start of any works, and it is of concern this work has proceeded without prior assessment and with apparent direct impacts on the property. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN consider that construction of any new major infrastructure projects should in principle be planned outside this very small property.

In view of the significant challenges faced with the water supply project, it is welcome that the State Party is committed to ensure that all future projects with potential impact on the property’s OUV, including for oil exploration and tourism development in areas with potential to impact the property are subject to Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) conducted in accordance with the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessment in a World Heritage context. Noting with concern that oil exploration has been pursued in the northern and central blocks of Lake Malawi and that consultations are ongoing on the mining sector policy, as noted by the 2022 mission, the State Party should also clarify the status of the issued licences and this work. No update was received from the State Party on the Monkey Bay-Cape Maclear Road project, which should undergo an ESIA before any construction starts.

Finally, it is recommended that the Committee requests the State Party to implement the recommendations of the 2022 Reactive Monitoring mission in full and report on progress made.