World Heritage Scanned Nomination File Name: 306rev.pdf UNESCO Region: AFRICA __________________________________________________________________________________________________ SITE NAME: Matobo Hills DATE OF INSCRIPTION: 5th July 2003 STATE PARTY: ZIMBABWE CRITERIA: C (iii)(v)(vi) DECISION OF THE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE: Excerpt from the Report of the 27th Session of the World Heritage Committee Criterion (iii): The Matobo Hills has one of the highest concentrations of rock art in Southern Africa. The rich evidence from archaeology and from the rock paintings at Matobo provide a very full picture of the lives of foraging societies in the Stone Age and the way agricultural societies came to replace them. Criterion (v): The interaction between communities and the landscape, manifest in the rock art and also in the long standing religious traditions still associated with the rocks, are community responses to a landscape. Criterion (vi): The Mwari religion, centred on Matoba, which may date back to the Iron Age, is the most powerful oracular tradition in southern Africa BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS The area exhibits a profusion of distinctive rock landforms rising above the granite shield that covers much of Zimbabwe. The large boulders provide abundant natural shelters and have been associated with human occupation from the early Stone Age right through to early historical times, and intermittently since. They also feature an outstanding collection of rock paintings. The Matobo Hills continue to provide a strong focus for the local community, which still uses shrines and sacred places closely linked to traditional, social and economic activities. 1.b State, Province or Region: Matebeleland, South Province 1.d Exact location: S20 30 00.0 E28 30 00.0 Nomination Dossier for the proposed Matobo Hills World Heritage Area - 1 - 1.0 IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROPERTY 1.1 Country Republic of Zimbabwe 1.2 Province Matebeleland South Province 1.3 Name of Property Matobo Hills Matobo derives from the Kalanga word “Matombo” meaning rocks. Early missionaries who could not pronounce Matobo later introduced the names Matopo Hills or Matopos. However, Matobo Hills is now more acceptable than Matopo or Matopos. The local people also refer to the area as Matojeni. 1.4 Location on map and indication of geographical co-ordinates 280 001 E to 290 001 E; 200 251 S to 200 451 S Regional Map, (Figure 1). 1.5 Maps and/or plans showing boundary of area proposed for inscription The proposed World Heritage Site (WHS) boundary and buffer zone are presented in Figure 2 and 3. In establishing the boundary of the proposed Matobo Hills World Heritage Site (Figure 2), it was initially agreed that the geological boundary of the Matobo granite be used as the definition. However, consideration was given to the administrative implications and practical nature of the proposed boundary. This is in view of the large extent of the Matobo granite landscape, which extends almost to the Botswana border in the west while to the east it merges with the Mbalabala granite pluton. In order to strike a balance a decision was made to use both natural and man-made features such as drainage, roads and administrative boundaries to demarcate the proposed area for nomination. As a result only two administrative districts, Matobo and Umzingwane were considered. Although the area west of the Shashani River is an extension of the Matobo granite and falls under the Bulilimamangwe District, it was excluded from the proposed site in order to limit administrative problems. However, the importance of this area was recognised by including it in the buffer zone. Thus the Shashani River marks the western boundary of the proposed WHS. The southern boundary coincides with the southern boundary of the Khumalo and Matobo Communal Lands, extending along the northern boundaries of three commercial properties. The eastern boundary follows the Matobo Communal Land boundary, the Lumane River, and an established road. In the north, the boundary makes use of Maleme and Ngezi rivers, the Bulawayo-Kezi road and some commercial farm boundaries. The following list of properties are incorporated in the proposed Matobo World Heritage Site: Rhodes Matopo National Park (also known as the Matopo National Park) (Figure 3); the Lake Matopos Recreational Park; portions of the Rhodes Matopos Estate; Gulati Communal Lands (Matobo Rural District); Khumalo Communal Lands (Matobo RD); - 2 - Matobo Communal Lands (Matobo RD); small southern limit of the Mzinyatini Communal Lands (Umzingwane RD); small western portion of the Nswazi Communal Lands (Umzingwane RD) and some commercial farms all of which are located within the Matobo RD. 1.6 Area of property proposed for inscription (km2) The proposed nomination covers an area of about 2050 km2 (Garson 1995) and the associated buffer zone is 1050 km2 in extent, making a total of 3100 km2. - 6 - 2.0 JUSTIFICATION FOR INSCRIPTION. The Matobo Hills landscape contains both cultural and natural attributes of exceptional aesthetic, scientific and educational significance. The diverse cultural heritage in the area spans a period of more than five hundred thousand years, with continual settlement over at least one hundred thousand years from Early Iron Age to the present. There are numerous rock art sites, rock shelters with Stone Age and Iron Age deposits, religious sites, burial sites and historical buildings. The cultural time-depth and variety of the cultural landscape is not represented anywhere else in the country and possibly in the region. The natural landscape comprises scenic geological formations and diverse biological assemblages. The area possesses a great variety and large population density of predator species, especially raptors and leopards. It is regarded as the most important sanctuary for birds of prey, and includes the largest population of Black Eagle Aquila verreauxii, to be found anywhere in the world. The hills also possess one of the largest populations of Leopard Panthera pardus, and are an important sanctuary and research centre for two endangered Rhino species Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis. The more than 210 tree species and 17 species of wild orchid give the area a botanical significance. 2.1 Statement of significance 2.1.1 Natural property The Matobo Hills area is a cultural landscape with natural attributes of exceptional significance. The natural landscape comprises geological formations providing a wide diversity of niches supporting a variety of flora and fauna. The geomorphology of the Matobo Hills gives rise to microclimates and soil conditions that change markedly over short distances. The ecological processes of Matobo Hills are determined largely by the landscape, which underpins ecosystem structure and function. Thus, the geomorphology of Matobo Hills in itself is of outstanding universal value. The complex geomorphology of Matobo Hills supports a unique landscape comprising extensive open grasslands with groups of kopjes (rock outcrops) interspersed with wetlands (marshes and streams). The huge whalebacks (dwalas) and numerous caves contribute to the high diversity of habitats in Matobo Hills. The combination of physical and climatic factors has resulted in the creation of special habitats such that in spite of their situation in dry semi-arid savannah, the Matobo Hills represent a western extension of the ranges of many species characteristic of the higher rainfall areas in eastern Zimbabwe and parts of Mozambique (Grobler & Wilson 1972). The ecological complexity of this landscape is expressed in the unusual density and diversity of predators. The result is a combination and diversity of flora and fauna worthy of special attention and preservation. 2.1.1.1 Geomorphology Matobo Granite, 2.65 billion years old, extends for about 2050 km2 and occupies most of the area to be nominated. The batholith is an irregular oval body with the maximum east- west and north-south dimensions of about 100 km and 30 km respectively. Other rock pockets include augen gneisses, older granites and granodiorities. The resistant rocks of the granitic shield form an imposing relief of varied landforms including caves, inselbergs, whalebacks, dwalas and castellated hills (commonly termed - 7 - kopjes). Nowhere else on the granitic shield of Zimbabwe, if not the world, can one find so profuse an expression of granitic landforms in so limited an area. The singular ecological feature is the diversity of habitats available to organisms such as patches of bare rock, broken rock, wooded slopes, forest stands, grasslands, granitic sponges and rivers. The unusually high density and diversity of predators is a result of the ecological complexity of the landscape. The presence of a mosaic of highly varied habitats in the Matobo Hills area has also given rise to the establishment of a self-sustaining cultural landscape. 2.1.1.2 Habitat and Vegetation Diversity The Matobo lies in the savannah biome under a climate generally too dry for miombo woodland. It is placed in the broad Zambezian phytochorion under undifferentiated woodland, although it also contains some Afromontane elements. The soils are derived from granite rocks and hence are generally coarse and sandy with only pockets of clay soil. In vleis and on some uplands there are local patches of organic soils and peat. Although the diversity of parent material, hence soil types, is low, there is a great range of vegetation formations and types. Thus, vegetation diversity ranges from almost desert- like aridity and extreme temperatures on the rock domes to mesic dense woodland. This reflects a response to geomorphology and climate and (to a lesser extent) the effects of human activities over the centuries. Within the southern African region, it would appear that the Matobo area is one of the most concentrated manifestations of the diversity of vegetation and plants associated with granite landforms. This is due to (a) its fairly extensive area compared to other, more isolated, occurrences, (b) the marked impact of winter moisture (guti) in the eastern parts, and (c) the mosaic nature of the impact of human activity compared to similar communal land situations e.g.