Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Protected area / relocation · Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda · 1991–2025

UNESCO World Heritage listings and Indigenous rights

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured. Disputed
People
  • 418 people were displaced or listed for relocation. not independently verified
    Simien, Gich resettlement;, not verified.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured · 2 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Did gold exploration permits inside Odzala-Kokoua meet the site's conservation requirements?
  • Standard-setters and registries IUCN: In 2022 recommended deferral because the permits meant conservation and management requirements were not met.
  • Government and regulators Republic of the Congo: Reported to the Committee that the permits had been cancelled.
  • International bodies World Heritage Committee: Listed the site unanimously in September 2023 (45 COM 8B.1).
  • Communities and civil society Survival International: Sent African Parks a written warning about three months before the listing.

Four African sites (Odzala-Kokoua, Lake Bogoria, Simien, Bwindi) were listed, or removed from the danger list, while questions about Indigenous peoples' consent, eviction or compensation were on record. The cases show how the listing process treated those questions.

4 sitesListings examined in this record
Odzala-Kokoua (2023), Lake Bogoria (2011), Simien (removed from the danger list, 2017), Bwindi (listed 1994).

Status As of 2025: the World Heritage Committee asked for a participation proposal by 2027 (47 COM 11); the Uganda Batwa appeal and the African Commission's Endorois decision were reported unresolved.

What?
World Heritage listings and delistings of four African sites during which Indigenous consent, eviction or compensation were open questions.
Where?
Odzala-Kokoua (Republic of the Congo), Lake Bogoria (Kenya), Simien (Ethiopia), Bwindi (Uganda).
When?
Evictions from the 1970s and 1991; listings 1994, 2011, 2017 and 2023; Uganda ruling August 2021; Committee decision 47 COM 11 in 2025.
Who?
Gained
  • States and site managers — The record describes listing as bringing tourism, donations and prestige; Bwindi is described as one of the best-known gorilla-tourism destinations.
  • Kenya Wildlife Service — Reported to have received a royalty of about US$9,000 from a Danish enzyme company from microbes taken from Lake Bogoria (2009).
Lost
  • Endorois — Evicted in the 1970s from the Lake Bogoria area; the 2010 African Commission decision on revenue sharing was reported not implemented in 2024. Minority Rights Group
  • Batwa (Bwindi) — Removed from the forest in 1991; the Constitutional Court found in 2021 that adequate compensation had not been paid. Daily Monitor (Uganda)
  • Gich community (Simien) — Resettled; the Committee decision describes the resettlement as voluntary and completed.
Harmed
  • Odzala-Kokoua — Gold exploration permits had been issued inside the park; IUCN said conservation and management requirements were not met; the Congo later reported the permits cancelled.
Why?
The record gives the listing rationale as recognition of Outstanding Universal Value; Indigenous-rights bodies argue consent and compensation requirements were not met.
How?
IUCN evaluates natural sites; the World Heritage Committee decides. Indigenous representatives are often heard only after a decision, according to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA).
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

A World Heritage listing recognises a site of Outstanding Universal Value on behalf of humanity. For natural sites the technical evaluation is done by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the decision is taken by the World Heritage Committee, made up of states. The record describes the listing as bringing tourism, donations and prestige.

Odzala-Kokoua (Republic of the Congo, 11,794 km2). In 2022 IUCN recommended deferral because gold exploration permits inside the park meant conservation and management requirements were not met. After the Congo reported that it had cancelled the permits, the Committee inscribed the site unanimously in September 2023 (decision 45 COM 8B.1). Survival International had sent African Parks a written warning about three months earlier. The IUCN-based page for the site names African Parks as manager and refers to "local communities", not to Indigenous peoples.

Lake Bogoria (Kenya, 2011). The Committee listed the lake on IUCN's recommendation without the free, prior and informed consent of the Endorois, whom the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights had recognised in 2010 as owners of the land. On 5 November 2011 the Commission, in Resolution 197, stated that this violated the Endorois' right to development. According to an IUCN article, the draft decision prepared by IUCN does not name the Endorois and IUCN did not consult Endorois representatives during its field review. The Endorois had been evicted in the 1970s when the area became a game reserve. In July 2024 The Star reported that they had learned from the press that enzymes were being extracted from the lake.

Simien (Ethiopia, 2017). The Committee removed the site from the List of World Heritage in Danger and congratulated the state; its decision notes that the voluntary resettlement of the Gich community was completed (41 COM 7A.13). The resettlement is recorded as part of the process of leaving the danger list.

Bwindi (Uganda). The Batwa were removed from the forest in 1991 and the site was listed in 1994. In August 2021 Uganda's Constitutional Court ruled unanimously (five judges) that the eviction was unlawful and that adequate compensation had not been paid; the government appealed. The 2022 report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples, Calí Tzay, counted at least nine cases of threatened Indigenous rights at World Heritage sites, and the Committee in 2025 asked for a participation proposal by 2027.

  1. 1970sEndorois evicted when Lake Bogoria area becomes a game reserve
  2. 1991Batwa removed from the Bwindi forest
  3. 1994Bwindi listed
  4. 2010African Commission recognises the Endorois as owners of the land (decision 276/03)
  5. 2011Lake Bogoria listed (35 COM 8B.6); African Commission Resolution 197 on 5 November
  6. 2016UN Special Rapporteur Tauli-Corpuz report; most recommendations not implemented
  7. 2017Simien removed from the danger list (41 COM 7A.13)
  8. 2021Uganda Constitutional Court rules Batwa eviction unlawful (August); government appeals
  9. 2022IUCN recommends deferring Odzala-Kokoua; UN Special Rapporteur Calí Tzay counts at least nine cases at World Heritage sites
  10. 2023Survival warns African Parks (June); Committee lists Odzala-Kokoua unanimously (September, 45 COM 8B.1)
  11. 2024Endorois learn from the press of enzyme extraction at Lake Bogoria (July)
  12. 2025Committee decision 47 COM 11 asks for a participation proposal by 2027

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Were Indigenous peoples consulted before Lake Bogoria was listed?
International bodies
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

Resolution 197 (5 November 2011) stated that listing without the Endorois' free, prior and informed consent violated their right to development.

Standard-setters and registries
IUCN

According to an IUCN article, its draft decision does not name the Endorois and it did not consult Endorois representatives during its field review.

Did gold exploration permits inside Odzala-Kokoua meet the site's conservation requirements?
Standard-setters and registries
IUCN

In 2022 recommended deferral because the permits meant conservation and management requirements were not met.

Government and regulators
Republic of the Congo

Reported to the Committee that the permits had been cancelled.

International bodies
World Heritage Committee

Listed the site unanimously in September 2023 (45 COM 8B.1).

Communities and civil society
Survival International

Sent African Parks a written warning about three months before the listing.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Listing presented as recognition of a site of Outstanding Universal Value on behalf of all humanity
    World Heritage Convention listing criterion, as described in the record
  • Simien delisting from the danger list recorded with the "voluntary resettlement" of the Gich community noted as completed
    World Heritage Committee decision 41 COM 7A.13
  • Odzala-Kokoua site page refers to "local communities" and names African Parks as manager
    IUCN-based site page

Recorded

  • IUCN recommended deferral of Odzala-Kokoua in 2022 because of gold exploration permits inside the park; the Committee listed it in September 2023 after the Congo reported the permits cancelled
  • African Commission Resolution 197 (5 November 2011): listing Lake Bogoria without the Endorois' free, prior and informed consent violated their right to development
  • Uganda Constitutional Court, August 2021: Batwa eviction unlawful, adequate compensation not paid; government appealed
    Daily Monitor (Uganda)
  • Special Rapporteur Calí Tzay (2022): at least nine cases of threatened Indigenous rights at World Heritage sites among 1,154 sites; recommended reassessment of status if requirements are not met and a complaint mechanism

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • iucn (2011): An IUCN article states that the draft decision for Lake Bogoria, prepared by IUCN, does not name the Endorois, and that IUCN did not consult Endorois representatives in its field review.
  • unesco-whc (2019, 2025): In 2025 the Committee, by decision 47 COM 11, asked for a participation proposal by 2027. The Operational Guidelines call for free, prior and informed consent before an area affecting Indigenous land is placed on a tentative list.
  • kenya-government (2024): No response recorded; the Endorois asked for a revenue disclosure in 2024 after learning of enzyme extraction from the press. · The Star (Kenya)

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2021-08Ongoing
    Batwa v. Government of Uganda (Bwindi and Mgahinga evictions)
    Constitutional Court of Uganda · Civil · Batwa → Government of Uganda

    Five judges unanimously held that the Batwa were left landless without adequate compensation after the 1991 evictions and left the remedy to the High Court. The government appealed. Known of the Daily Monitor; the outcome of the appeal is not known. Daily Monitor (Uganda)

  2. 2010Claimant won
    Endorois decision (Communication 276/03)
    African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights · International court · Endorois community → Government of Kenya

    The Commission found in 2010 that the eviction violated rights and asked for a share of revenue to go to the Endorois. Minority Rights Group reported the decision as not implemented. Minority Rights Group

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Gold exploration permits inside Odzala-Kokoua
Reported cancelled
Congo told the Committee before the September 2023 vote; IUCN had recommended deferral in 2022
Indigenous consent at Lake Bogoria
Not obtained
African Commission Resolution 197, 5 November 2011
Independent ecological evaluation of the resettlements
None in the record
The Simien and Bwindi outcomes are recorded as decisions and rulings, not ecological assessments

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court ruling existsCase pending / contestedDisplacement reported

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
  • Disputed Did gold exploration permits inside Odzala-Kokoua meet the site's conservation requirements?

Figures

  • Insufficient People displaced: Simien, Gich resettlement;, not verified.
  • Insufficient Budget: Simien resettlement budget;, not verified.

Accounts

  • Disputed Were Indigenous peoples consulted before Lake Bogoria was listed?

Record

  • None on record The outcome of the government's appeal against the August 2021 Uganda Constitutional Court ruling on the Batwa is not known.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: for Simien, 418 households moved and a budget of about US$4 million, with compensation disputes still under way in 2016; these figures come.
  • None on record The Daily Monitor report on the Bwindi ruling was known.
  • None on record The Minority Rights Group pages could not be opened; statements that the African Commission's 2010 Endorois decision remained unimplemented in 2024 rest on its report as indexed.
  • None on record The Odzala-Kokoua site page mentions local communities only; it does not mention Indigenous peoples.

Did the harm stop?

The record shows none of the four listings withdrawn. The Endorois decision was reported as not implemented in 2024, and the Batwa ruling was under appeal.

Who paid?

The Endorois, the Batwa of Bwindi and the Gich of Simien, as recorded in the decisions and rulings above; at Odzala-Kokoua, the park itself, where gold exploration permits had been issued inside it.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Institutions

IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and its global list assessing species' risk of extinction.
OECD complaint
A complaint filed with a government's National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; the process is mediation, not a court.

Law and courts

Constitutional Court
The highest court for questions of constitutional rights in a country.
Prior consultation
The right of indigenous peoples, under ILO Convention 169 and national laws, to be consulted before measures that affect their lands are adopted.
Similar cases
Protected area / relocation · Kenya · 2007–2024
World Bank and development bank accountability mechanisms: Embobut (Sengwer), Tata Mundra, Arun III, Jale, Cambodia
Same type: Protected area / relocationSame countryCourt: won by claimant, ongoing
Protected area / relocation · Water use · Kenya · 2014–2024
Sengwer evictions from Embobut forest and the EU Water Towers programme (Kenya)
Same type: Protected area / relocationSame countryCourt: won by claimant, ongoing
Tree planting · Protected area / relocation · Kenya · 2018–2024
Kenya logging ban lifted and eucalyptus felling
Same type: Protected area / relocationSame countryCourt: won by claimant