Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

The CCLC area is a large area, involving a number of complexities and the need to develop consensus among several stakeholders, coffee growers being the most important inhabitants of the region. The Coffee Cultural Landscape -CCLC has taken advantage of an institutional network created for more than eight decades by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation. This network provides public goods and services to the majority of coffee growers in Colombia and an ideal public private cooperation umbrella to make the CCLC a sustainable property. This arrangement has created opportunities for social mobility, economic progress and democratic participation for more than 85.854 families of the world heritage site. Registered individuals participate in elections to nominate their representatives to the local and regional Coffee Growers Committees and the National Coffee Growers Congress. They also have access to research, development and knowledge transfer, product quality control, social investment in coffee-growing communities, brand and sales strategies to add value, purchase guarantee policy, soft loans and other financial services, among others.

Aligning the CCLC management plan to the FNC´s strategic plan was the first consensus arrived at. A detailed management plan with well defined indicators of progress is yet another management strategy to measure the effectiveness of the initiatives undertaken. From then on a number of joint initiatives were able to be financed, ranging from renovating coffee trees to biodiversity conservation, and making possible to add additional resources and initiatives to the CCLC’s initial management objectives. This public private partnership is able to leverage resources from international and other national sources to accomplish its desired objectives. On the communications side, the partnership has also made possible the creation of a visual identity that reinforces the property´s values, the ability to have coffee growers to actively participate in decisions on the regions priorities, aligning research and social initiatives to sustainability objectives. Radio and TV programs as well as printed materials and videos have also spread the CCLC value message of conservation and appreciation.

In addition, FNC’s extensionists and Cultural Heritage Watchers are now vocal supporters of the program, making possible for the different initiatives to be supported and appreciated by local communities. Innovative e-learning courses to the tourism industry underline the OUVs of the property, to make sure that a consistent message is delivered to visitors and locals alike. In sum, a major undertaking has been launched that involves a strong institutionality, consultation and socialization processes, education and funding has been launched with outstanding results in a few years of operation.