The ARRC Task Force has contributed an article, “Mining Threats to the Mount Nimba World Heritage Site in Guinea,” to the World Heritage Watch Report 2026, an annual independent, civil-society assessment of threats facing World Heritage properties worldwide.

The article outlines how part of the Mount Nimba World Heritage Site in Guinea was de-gazetted in 1992 to allow iron ore mining, a permit now owned by Ivanhoe Atlantic – Société des Mines de Fer de Guinée (SMFG), and describes the site’s subsequent addition to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger. It details the direct and indirect impacts the proposed mining activities would have on the site’s Outstanding Universal Value, the Critically Endangered western chimpanzee, and surrounding communities, and reviews the current status of environmental review for both the SMFG and Nimba Development Company (NDC) permits.

The article reiterates the ARRC Task Force’s position, alongside six other NGOs, calling for a five-year renewable moratorium on mining activities within the Nimba Biosphere Reserve, and its recommendations for a Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA), improved understanding of disease risks, protection and restoration of endemic and Critically Endangered species, and securing long-term financing for the site’s protection.

Read the full 2026 report here. Related ARRC Task Force materials on Nimba are available on our Reports & Statements page and the Nimba Iron Ore Project Page.