The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia: Strategy For A Solid Governance

Page 1 of 26 Uribe & Velandia, 2014
44
th
Urban Affairs Association Conference
San Antonio, Texas
March 20
th
, 2014

The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia: Strategy for a Solid Governance

Sonia Patricia Uribe Galeano
1
, Csar Augusto Velandia Silva
2

Abstract
The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC), inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage
list in 2012, encompasses six farming landscapes, including eighteen urban settlements, in a
unique sustainable and productive landscape that represents the Colombian coffee tradition. The
ancestral architecture in the urban areas incorporates indigenous traditions with Spanish cultural
influence. Rural houses function as both family residences and centers of economic activity. This
exceptional combination of the urban and rural landscapes reflects a centennial tradition of
coffee growing in small farms and the innovative management practices of natural resources of
the community in challenging geographical conditions.

The following are some legal and management frameworks of the CCLC that have been
implemented by the Colombian government to protect the site: i) Declaration of the CCLC as a
Cultural Heritage of the Nation; ii) Agreements for Prosperity - public dialogue model designed
with the aim of achieving social cohesion and governance; iii) CCLC National Council of
Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) - defines the actions of different levels of government;
iv) education to take better ownership of the CCLC; v) delimitation and management of areas of
mining exclusion; vi) incorporation of the CCLCs management into the Land Management
Plans of the region; and vii) Tourism Strategic Plan to provide specialized, authentic and quality
cultural tourism products.

Through ethnographic analysis, this paper evaluates: What have to be done to better manage the
CCLC? i) Increase awareness and social appropriation of the cultural heritage through social
participation in programs like Heritage Overseers; ii) improve databases that could serve as
indicators in management and protection plans; iii) track progress of current projects such as
inventory of archaeological heritage; and iv) Propose projects to be funded by the National
Stock System
3
, such as: increasing connectivity in rural areas and recovery of tertiary roads,
ensuring the sustainability of Colombian coffee through the Designations of Origin of regional

1
Researcher, Universit Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3, France. soniauribe@gmail.com
2
Consultant, Heritage Main Office, Colombian Ministry of Culture, cesar.velandia@gmail.com
3
Funding from Colombian mining revenues

coffee brands, improving rural housing using traditional construction techniques, and
encouraging generational replacement and reducing ruralurban migration.

Topic Category:
SPECIAL TRACK: Urban Issues in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Governance, Intergovernmental Relations, Regionalism, Urban Management

The 1972 Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, better
known as the World Heritage Convention, was promulgated by UNESCO to fulfill the need for
an international legal instrument to ensure the protection and conservation of the cultural and
natural heritage. The UNESCO World Heritage List has a total of 981 properties which are part
of the cultural and natural heritage that the World Heritage Committee acknowledges as having
Outstanding Universal Value.

Cultural landscapes represent the combined works of nature and of man. They are
illustrative of the evolution of human society and settlement over time, under the
influence of the physical constraints and/or opportunities presented by their natural
environment and of successive social, economic and cultural forces, both external and
internal.
Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
UNESCOs World Heritage Committee, Mexico, 1996.

The Cultural Heritage values the identity, practices and history of the area and the host
community. The Cultural Heritage denotes the evolution, development and community change
over time, related to its natural, cultural and economic environment. In Latin America there is

nothing but three Cultural Landscapes: i) The Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee
Plantations in the Southeast of Cuba: The unique remains of the 19th-century coffee plantations
in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra that show evidence of a pioneer form of agriculture in a
difficult terrain; ii) The Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila in Mexico:
An expansive landscape of blue agave used since the 16th century to produce tequila, and is
todays national identity. It includes areas of archaeological remains of terraced fields, houses,
temples, ceremonial mounds and traditional playgrounds; and iii) The Coffee Cultural Landscape
of Colombia. The World Heritage Committee inscribed the Coffee Cultural Landscape of
Colombia (CCLC Paisaje Cultural Cafetero de Colombia per Spanish acronym), based on
criterion v and vi. Criterion (v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement,
land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with
the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible
change and (vi) to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas,
or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.
4

There are seven cultural Colombian properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, including
the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia inscribed in 2011, the Historic Centre of Santa Cruz
de Mompox (1995), the National Archeological Park of Tierradentro (1995), the San Agustn
Archaeological Park (1995) the Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena (1984),
Los Katos National Park (1994) and Sanctuary of Malpelo Fauna and Flora (2006).

4
UNESCO, The Criteria for Selection, UNESCO official website, http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/


Figure 1. Location of the CCLC
Source: www.pcc.org.co

To guide the protection, use, and conservation of the inscribed heritage sites, each site possesses
a management plan pointing out how the outstanding universal values of the site will be
preserved. Colombia as a UNESCO State Party ratified the World Heritage Convention, which
undertakes the protection and preservation of its Heritage Sites under their management and
protection plans. Few years ago, there was a national and local policy for cultural appropriation
and a growing interest to incorporate culture as a strategic element in the development of the
regions and the nation. Legitimate concerns to safeguard and protect their communities have
reaffirmed the need to ensure the preservation of all the cultural manifestations and places that
comprise their cultural heritage.

However [Cultural Landscapes] sites face major challenges: it is the work of local
communities ..., the daily work and lives which maintain these sites, often through their
own protection measures, not by official legal provisions; with the adoption of the
cultural landscape categories customary law and management system have been
accepted at a global level.
Francesco Bandarin, 2009 Director, UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia: Transforming Model
The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia is an exceptional example of a cultural and
productive landscape characterized by the collective effort of several generations of small-scale
farmers creating innovative practices for the management of natural resources in challenging
rural conditions, plus a centuries-old culture of coffee, legacy passed down from generation to
generation, tangible and intangible manifestations including but not limited to: music,
gastronomy, architecture and education (Uribe et Velandia, 2013).

The UNESCO included the CCLC site on the World Heritage List, because of its outstanding
universal value and meet of cultural criteria v and vi. Based on criteria v, the CCLC is a
continuing land-use where farmers generated innovative management practices of natural
resources in challenging geographical conditions. Considering criteria v, the coffee culture in the
CCLC has led to tangible and intangible manifestations in the region. Terrain conditions in the
region of CCLC and historical processes around the coffee economy facilitate rural economic
activity and the concentration of agricultural crops. The rural economy of the region historically
has relied on coffee (figure 2), which, taking into account changes in grain prices tending to
decline, reducing production and grain quality, concern not only the coffee community, but the
country (See figure 4).


Figure 2. Share of coffee in the agricultural GDP and total GDP (%) (No Pile)
Source: CONPES 3763, A Strategy for competitiveness of the Colombian coffee cultivation-Committee of Experts, 2013

Figure 3. Colombian Internal Coffee Price
(Price per 125 kilos, 1 USD approximately 2,000 pesos)
Source: CONPES 3803, Policy for the preservation of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, 2013.


Figure 4. World Coffee Production
Source: CONPES 3763, A Strategy for competitiveness of the Colombian coffee cultivation-Committee of Experts, 2013

The years 2011 and 2012 have been specially challenging for farmers due to low prices of the
beans, the substantial reduction in its production (due to the National Coffee Plantation Renewal
Plan
5
) (See Figure 3 and 4), climatic variations, the effect of coffee cherry quality due to
volcanic emissions of Nevado del Ruiz, and the revaluation of the US dollar.

Policies for the protection, conservation and use of CCLC

In June 25, 2011, the 35th World Heritage Convention of UNESCO inscribed the CCLC in the
World Heritage List in accordance with Decision 35 COM 8B.43.
6
Cultural Landscapes
transform, with the following being the main negative factors for CCLCs transformation:
population growth, changes in land use, contamination in agricultural processes, urban and hotel
expansion, and low generational handover of the coffee production activity. Given UNESCOs

5
The coffee renovation plan is allowing new coffee crops, adaptable to climate changes and are disease-resistant
varieties (Banco de la Repblica, 2012).
6
UNESCO, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1121

inscription, protection, conservation and use of the CCLC, the following are some policies that
the Colombian government developed to safeguard it:

Resolution 2079, Ministry of Culture of Colombia, October 7, 2011, recognizes the CCLC as a
Cultural Heritage of the Nation and as a property inscribed on the World Heritage List of
UNESCO, consisting of a territory composed of areas of special archaeological, historical and
cultural interest.

Agreement for Prosperity No. 43, August 13, 2011, there were mandated the CONPES
7

document for the CCLC, the inclusion of CCLC in Land Management Plans
8
(POT Plan de
Ordenamiento Territorial per Spanish acronym) and the definition of the zones of mining
exclusion.

National Council for Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) of the CCLC
9
. Council of
Colombian Ministers. February 13th, 2014. The CONPES formulates a specific policy for the
CCLC, with the purpose of strengthening it as a sustainable and productive cultural landscape,
defining strategies for structuring and coordinating the activities of different government levels
involved in implementing policies for its preservation and sustainability. Defines strategies,

7
The National Council for Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) of the CCLC
8
The Land Use Plan (POT, per Spanish acronym) is a technical and policy planning instrument of long-term
management, is a set of actions and policies, administrative and physical planning, which will guide the development
of municipal areas, occupation and transformation of urban and rural physical space. http://portalterritorial.gov.co
Serie Planes de Ordenamiento Territorial. (2014). Colombia.
9
Departamento Nacional de Planeacin (2014). Poltica para la Preservacin del Paisaje Cultural Cafetero de
Colombia CONPES 3803. DNP. February 13, 2014,
https://www.dnp.gov.co/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=nf6EW13B9XE%3d&tabid=1813, Colombia.

programs, actions and funding required to ensure the sustainability of the CCLC as a
commitment for the Colombian government.

Inclusion of the CCLC in the POTs. A result of a process of technical assistance with the local
authorities and the Colombian Ministry of Housing, City and Territory, the POTs were mandated
to be reviewed to include the harmonization of the CCLC attributes within the municipal plans.

Guidelines for mainstreaming the CCLC into the review and adjustment of POTs
10
, a result of
the conceptualization, coordination and agreement on the attributes of the CCLC. The booklet
was developed simultaneously with the process of review and adjustment of thirty-five municipal
POTs. The development of the Guide involved GIS mapping of land use, preserved areas and
infrastructures, and verification of urban-territorial implications of the CCLC in the POT.
Technical and policy-mapping were required, which had the challenge to translate the landscape
standards and controls for the preservation of the landscape, especially in areas experiencing
development pressure, tourism and mining activities.

Determine exclusions of mining activities. Through a coordinated effort with the Ministry of
Mines and Energy work, the National Mining Agency, the Ministry of Environment and

10
Gua de Lineamientos para la Incorporacin del Paisaje Cultural Cafetero en la Revisin y Ajuste de los Planes de
ordenamiento territorial (POT - PBOT - EOT), (2014), Colombian Coffee Landscape Official Webpage,
www.pcc.org.co , Colombia.

Sustainable Development and the Regional Autonomous Corporations
11
in the region, an action
plan was undertaken to: i) identify existing mining areas in the CCLC, ii) identify existing
mining titles
12
, and iii) characterize the type of mining activities.

Resolution 2963 of December 22, 2012, amending Resolution 2079 of October 7, 2011,
delimited the CCLC main area and buffer zone. When the area was determinate, the Colombian
Ministry of Mines and Energy concluded that 65% of the mining activity in the CCLC is related
to the exploitation of stone used for the production of building materials and roads and the
remaining 35% are precious minerals. Currently, a process is developed to determine the
feasibility or otherwise of issuing new mining titles in the CCLC, taking into account: existing
review mechanisms; respecting the landscape and its values, consistent with sustainable
practices; intensive monitoring and evaluation processes; and the legalization of traditional
mining activities which, if not met, will cause the suspension of titles. The 35th Session of the
World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, 2011, recommended to Colombia not to authorize any
mining activity within the property and its immediate surroundings (UNESCO, 2011).

Social education project and appropriation of the CCLC. This ensures that social sustainability
of the CCLC goes hand-in-hand with educational and communication programs. The project
includes the development and implementation of academic courses and classes, and various
publications that promotes and disseminates the CCLC values among universities and centers of
study and research. Landscape experts highlight the social values of the cultural heritage, and

11
Corporaciones Autnomas Regionales (CAR) son las Autoridades Ambientales Regionales en Colombia.
12
The mining title granted the right to explore and exploit the soil and subsoil.

developed the e-learning course CCLC The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia and Cafe
de Colombia
13
. The e-learning training is targeted to tour operators, cultural managers, and
those responsible for tourism and coffee places. It is a tool to promote the CCLC in the context
of environmental and cultural protection, enhancing competitiveness, integration and
development of the region.

Heritage Overseers, established by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia, calls volunteers to
develop activities oriented to social appropriation of the heritage and respect for cultural
diversity. The Heritage Overseers can do the following: i) Knowledge and measurement:
preliminary lists for the identification of cultural heritage, research, and historical studies of
cultural assets; ii) Training and Outreach: projects and training for heritage diffusion; and iii)
Conservation, protection, recovery and sustainability: Projects focused on protection,
conservation and enjoyment of heritage (Mincultura, 2013b).

CCLC Challenges and Sustainable Management

The following are some factors that put the CCLC at risk, based on the CONPES: i) CCLC
Deterioration, loss and lack of social appropriation of cultural heritage ii) decrease of land
cultivated with coffee due to increased profitability of alternative uses of land and construction,
iii) low profitability of coffee production, iv) little resilience to the impacts of climate change
and environmental pollution, v) reduction of accessibility of activities associated with tourism
and coffee trade, vi) vulnerability of the outstanding universal value of the CCLC for extractive

13
SENA, Curso e-learning sobre el CCLC, http://tvweb.sena.edu.co/video/?t=promo-paisaje-cultural-
cafetero&v=1483

activities and major infrastructure projects, and vii) adverse effects and losses from risk due to
disaster threats.

Sustainable management of the cultural landscape takes into account a harmonious landscape
and is aligned with the three pillars of sustainability (social, economic and environmental) as
well as with its principles. Incorporating sustainability principles into daily life and local culture
allows for a better use of resources. To address the factors threatening the CCLC, the objectives,
strategies and strategic actions listed in Figure 1 were defined in the CONPES, which are
complemented by the following projects
14
, ranked by pillars of sustainable development:

Social Development

Generational handover aims to promote new strategies for coffee farm owners in the CCLC,
promoting generational handover in coffee farming (currently the average farmer age is above 55
years), and labor connection through coffee plantation renovation.

Knowledge and ownership of CCLC involves the development of training programs in the
primary, secondary, technical and university education levels that advance knowledge and
assessment of the relationship of the cultural landscape heritage and sustainable development of
the CCLC.

Maintenance and recovery of tertiary roads aims to work on the restoration and maintenance

14
Projects proposed by the Regional Steering and Technical Committee of the CCLC and the departmental
secretaries, designed for funding through the General System of Regalas, 2011.

of tertiary roads in the municipalities of the CCLC that will generate employment, improve the
quality of life for residents, and promote accessibility and mobility of visitors to develop
sustainable tourism in the region.

CCLC connectivity promoting access to Information and Technology and Communication
(ICT) in rural areas and in public libraries to help improve the lives of coffee farmers and the
wider community.

Economic development

Sustainability of Colombian coffee through the strengthening of designations of origin and
regional coffee brands, in order to increase the economic value of Colombian coffee by regional
segmentation in the domestic and international markets through implementation of the Strategies
of Denominations of Origin and Trademark of the CCLCs coffee.

Implementation of the 4C Initiative (Common Code for the Coffee Community
15
) as the basis for
the sustainability of the CCLC, which seeks the participation of 24,000 farmers who implement
sustainable coffee production practices involving environmental, social and economic dimension
in their activities.

15
Participants in the coffee chain commit to not being involved in the following practices: 1) child labor, 2) bondage
and forced labor, 3) trafficking/people trafficking, 4) prohibition of union membership 5) forced evictions without
adequate compensation, 6) if required, lack of provision of appropriate accommodation, 7) lack of provision of potable
water to all workers, 8) destruction of natural resources, 9) use of pesticides banned under the Stockholm Convention
on Pollutants, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and those included in the list of the Rotterdam Convention on
Prior Informed Consent (PIC) and 10) immoral business transactions, as defined in international conventions, national
laws and established practices. Legislation: ILO Conventions, United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, World Summit on Sustainable
Development, among others.


Strategic Tourism Plan. The national tourism policy in Colombia is the responsibility of the
Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism; however, in the case of the CCLC for its heritage
characteristics, the cultural institutions are also involved in the Strategic Tourism Plan. The
Strategic Tourism Plan of the CCLC developed two strategies: design of tourism products such
as the Routes of the CCLC (For example, routes of special cafes, architectural, handles mules
and the Antioquia colonization, among others) and the CCLC Brand for the national and
international promotion of tourism products. In figure 5, increased air traffic in both domestic
and international travel at CCLC motivated by the inscription on the World Heritage list since
2011 is appreciated.

Domestic International
Figure 5. Domestic and International air passenger traffic 2004 - 2012
Source: CONPES 3803, Policy for the preservation of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, 2013.

Environmental development

Improvement of rural housing with traditional construction techniques, whose aim is to
contribute to the preservation and protection of the cultural heritage of the CCLC, by improving

rural homes with traditional construction techniques that maintain traditional architecture,
improve the quality of life, strengthen attachment to the land and the means of production.

Preservation and enhancement of the CCLC, aiming to preserve and promote the cultural
heritage of the CCLC, coordinating regional development through the identification, study and
management of 24,000 coffee farms, archaeological and urban heritage.

This section will further develop on the strengthening of designations of origin and regional
coffee brands, and Generational Handover.

"The implementation of the denomination of origin coffee concept is a policy initiative on
the part of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNCC, per Spanish
acronym) to market and protect the regional Colombian coffees. The initiative will
further aid the removal of Colombian coffees from the coffee commodity market trading
and bilateral relations contribute partly decoupled from those of the world's coffee
bourses. It consolidates the elite status of Colombia's small-holder producers and has
substantial businesses their impact on livelihoods .
Oberthr, 2011

The process resulting on the CCLC Brand
Colombia started its process in the Coffee Origin Denomination campaign in the 1960s by
creating the characters of Juan Valdez, representing a traditional Colombian coffee grower, and
Conchita, his faithful mule. Juan Valdez, a small-scale farmer, was shown carrying sacks of
harvested coffee beans that were selected and hand-picked in the Colombian coffee fields. This
branded ingredient's strategy resulted in an increase in demand for Colombian coffee.


In the early 1980s, the Juan Valdez logo was designed and registered after Colombian coffee was
already established, and became important in informing consumers of the brand that contained
genuine, 100% Colombian coffee. This strategy was an example of a "trademark-based branded
ingredient strategy.

In the years that followed, another strategy to protect the Colombia coffee reputation in North
America was for Colombia to register the word Colombian in relation to coffee, as a
certification mark. This certification guaranteed that roasters would have to meet a series of
standards to sell Colombian coffee.

In early 2005, Colombia ratified Caf de Colombia as a Geographical Indication (GI), and a few
months after that, a recognition of Caf de Colombia, a Protected GI under the European Union
system, was granted and registered in 2007. Labels of origin have been used with a variety of
food products. In February 2014 the European Database of Origin and Registration (DOOR)
16

listed 1207 registered agricultural farm products and foodstuffs, PDO (protected designation of
origin), PGI (protected geographical indication) and TSG (traditional specialities guaranteed),
and 157 applications for registration. Caf de Colombia was the first non-EU product registered.
GIs are associated with specification, attributes and quality standards related to specific origin.
The rise and growth of the Specialty Coffee sector in the past 20 years has been remarkable and
is largely driven by new consumer awareness and appreciation for coffees of known quality
(Oberthr, 2011).

16
European Union, DOOR, http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door, accessed February 18, 2014.

Generational handover
One of the criteria of uniqueness of the CCLC World Heritage is the "family, generational and
historical human effort to produce an excellent quality coffee in the context of sustainable human
development" (Mincultura, 2011). However, a study on CCLC shows that there is a low level of
generational handover in the CCLC (Garca, 2011), with the following as the main reasons for
this problem in the region: i) activities that require schooling are perceived as a project of urban
life; ii) a large number of farmers children have low participation in coffee production
17
,
showing a break in the tradition of coffee growing; and, iii) young people perceive that their
expectations of personal fulfillment have a better chance of development in urban areas.

On the other hand, it is evidenced that some coffee farmer parents desire for their children to
continue with the coffee industry, whether permanent or complementary to its core business
manner, and some youth highly value the country life. The following will show some social and
political strategies that could mitigate the small generational handover in the CCLC region.

Social strategies which could give the new generation of farmers opportunities for local
development are: i) promote the coffee industry as a business, ii) elevate small coffee farming as
intellectual work linked to a future career; ii) exchange successful and nonsuccessful experiences
in coffee growing as a strategy to position the coffee business; iii) position the elderly as
consultants for small farming; iv) exalt among the young the value of rural life and pride for the
small coffee industry; v) enhance rural life and the exceptional values of the CCLC among

17
Tradition vs coffee child labor: Colombian law prohibits child labor; the coffee-growing culture is passed from
generation to generation. It is necessary to inform the farmers of the scope of child labor legislation differentiating
work and learning activities.

residents of the region; vi) develop an appropriation of the CCLC declaration that will empower
the community; and vii) develop contextualized curriculums for rural education with specific
teaching modules of the CCLC, which will promote the re-appropriation and re-definition of
coffee farming in the rural context.

Political strategies that could foster the development of the territory and allow professional and
personal development are: i) improve the quality of life in rural areas and strengthen cultural
participation spaces; ii) increase the active participation of youth in decision-making processes in
the region; iii) develop the rural activity as a profitable life option, changing the actual
conception of underdevelopment and poverty; and, iv) develop and promote agriculture and
family farming as a provider of profitable work and livelihood.

Processes that transform a nation
Policies for the protection, conservation and use of the CCLC as well as the identification of the
challenges and sustainable management tools for the CCLC are the result of a political
background initiated by the constitution reform, followed by reforms to cultural and
environmental policies with a hope for reconciliation among Colombians. Coffee growing, as
one of the main activities of the Colombian rural and agricultural sector, has a special treatment
in the Political Constitution of 1991 initiating a state of transformation in the country which
continues up to today. Three fundamental processes are taking place in the country that are
affecting the history of Colombia:

a) The National Development Plan "Prosperity for All" is the Colombian administration of the
economy and economic growth that benefits all social groups without exception, to offset socio-
productive regional disparities exploiting its mining and petroleum potential. This is reflected in
the CONPES for the CCLC.

b) The Peace Process is a long process that is still in gestation in a country with regions that are
in conflict and others in post-conflict" situations. The Peace Process in Colombia involve peace
talks and dialogues between the national government and the Colombian revolutionary groups to
end the armed conflict in Colombia. The peace process began by approaching the Colombian
insurgent groups, concluding in the demobilization of the M-19 Guerrilla Group in 1989.
Resuming the Peace Process in 1998, the Colombian government advanced peace talks with the
FARC Guerrilla Group during the failed demilitarized zone until 2002. In 2012, the Peace
Process in Colombia restarted, in order to "seek peace with social justice through dialogue"
which takes place in Norway and Cuba. National and international effects of peacebuilding in
Colombia are still uncertain nevertheless encouraging.

c) The Policy of Cultural and Environmental Sustainability aims to identify and prevent critical
interventions in the Colombian territory, preventing degradation and over-exploitation and
promoting social processes of protection and conservation of the wastelands, watersheds, forests,
jungles and seas of Colombia. It is a policy that permeated from the national policy to
departmental and municipal policies, both in public administration and in the educational level. It
convenes social movements for progress and environmental sustainable management.


Conclusion

The CCLC is an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, events or living
traditions directly or tangibly associated with the coffee culture, traditional architecture in coffee
farms and the integrity of its territory. It is essential to strengthen the value of the CCLC in
Colombia, a country that is transforming and rooted in a historic leadership in socioeconomic,
geopolitical, cultural and environmental matters.

The rural economy of the CCLC region historically has relied on coffee production which price
fluctuates globally in addition to reduction in coffee production in the recent years in Colombia
due to a plantation renewal program. The Colombian government, in order to increase the
economic value of a Colombian coffee by regional segmentation in the international markets,
developed the designations of origin and regional coffee brands.

In addition, the Colombian government developed environmental programs to diversify and
retrofit in a sustainable matter the coffee production. These programs included: i)
Implementation of the 4C Initiative (Common Code for the Coffee Community) aiming to
implement sustainable coffee production practices, ii) development of the CCLC Strategic
Tourism Plan that involves the design of CCLC tourism products such as the Brand and its
Routes.

In the CCLC there is a low level of generational handover in which potential young coffee
growers do not want to be living in rural areas. To this Generational handover promotes labor
connection through coffee plantation renovation and to boost Knowledge and ownership of
CCLC involves the development of training programs at all educational levels that advance
knowledge and assessment of the relationship with the cultural landscape heritage and
sustainable development of the CCLC.

In relation to the environment and culture, the Improvement of rural housing with traditional
construction techniques, aims to improve the quality of life, and to strengthen attachment to the
land and the means of production. In addition, Preservation and enhancement of the CCLC,
aims to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the CCLC, through the identification, study
and management of coffee farms, archaeological and urban heritage.

For the preservation of the CCLC, the Colombian government has developed social, economic
and environmental policies, which are included in the CONPES, approved in February 2014.
CONPES is the specific policy for the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, in order to
enhance their productivity and sustainability by defining a set of strategies aimed at improving
the conditions of preservation based on an action plan of government ministries involved in the
CCLC management. These actions seek to preserve this heritage and ensure its economic,
cultural, social and environmental sustainability.

Finally, the CCLC is a heritage site of high complexity in its social, economic and environmental
values. To ensure the sustainability of its social value, educational groups, academics and experts

supported by national and regional governments have been empowered to converge face
harmonization and reconciliation. This includes the peace process, economic problems in coffee
prices and also the effects of climate change, which represent a big challenge for the
conservation of the CCLC for future generations of Colombians and visitors from around the
world.

Annex. Policy for preserving the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia: Objectives, strategies,
and actions. Source: Adapted from CONPES 3803 "Policies for the Preservation of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of
Colombia".

Promote and develop processes for identification, assessment
and recognition of tangible and intangible cultural heritage by
conducting and disseminating inventories and the declaration of
assets of cultural interest. Properties of Cultural Interest (BIC
acronym per Spanich name) and inclusion of demonstrations in
representative lists of intangible cultural heritage
Develop Management Plans and Special Protection for BIC and
Special Plans of Safeguarding for the Intangible Cultural Heritage
expressions
Develop the state Monitoring Program for conservation of cultural
heritage
Strengthen the Communications Plan of the Management Plan of
the PCCC so that more content on cultural heritage will be
integrated and to promote social appropriation of this heritage.
Implement heritage courses in school
Encourage and promote processes to retrieve and disseminate
traditional occupations in the PCCC
Develop activities to encourage appropiation of the PCCC among
the youth population of the region
Promote access to the Information Technology and
Communication in public libraries and other cultural facilities,
specially accounting technological advances around coffee
production.
Incorporate the PCCC in the territorial planning including
environmental factors determinated by the Regional Autonomous
Corporations and the Ministry of Environment and Development
sustainable.
Develop a model of occupation at the regional level of the PCCC
to provide the conditions for the development of regional projects.
Increase knowledge of the PCCC by the Heritage Watcher's
groups.
Strengthen and promote the creation of more groups of
Watchers Heritage at the PCCC area.
Create and manage funds for cultural industries
Generate and disseminate research processes and knowledge
related to cultural industries
Access and promote of cultural products and services of the
PCCC.
Implement schemes for old-age protection
Promote and support the development of employment policies in
the PCCC
Strengthen education processes and training on
cultural heritage of the PCCC.
Identify, document, assess, protect, conserve
and safeguard the cultural tangible and intangible
heritage of the PCCC.
trengthening the social
appropriation of the cultural
heritage of the PCCC, and
articulate the social and economic
development of the region.
Promote and support processes of cultural
entrepreneurship in the PCCC through the
Ministry of Culture
Strengthen processes for public participation in
the preservation and dissemination of the PCCC.
Develop criteria and procedures for the
incorporation of PCCC in territorial planning
instruments


Promote sustainable coffee
production in the PCCC, foster
competitiveness, profitability and
management
Design policies and strategies to address the
current situation of the national coffee in the
short, medium and long term, through the
establishment of a Commission of Experts for the
modern coffee growing, established in the
CONPES "Coffee: The way forward to justice
and modernity".
Define policy guidelines and strategies to address the current
situation of the national coffee production
Define actions, funding and implementation of programs for the
improvement of tertiary roads and intervention through
prioritization by local authorities for projects affecting coffee
production.
Prioritize, by the governors of the PCCC municipalities, the
critical points of tertiary road networks to be served with the
machinery provided by the Colombian government.
Promote projects to increase touristic demand by offering new
specialized cultural tourism products, and to share with the
visitors the exceptional values of the PCCC.
Promote projects and actions to achieve an equitable distribution
of the benefits from tourism. Promote entrepreneurship different
from tourist accommodation services, especially tourism
operations, to effectively provide cultural tourism experiences.
Define environmental determinants for the development of
agrotourism and ecotourism.
Generate municipalities joint strategies for the development and
strengthening of nature tourism products.
Develop the PCCC Brand Manual and promote conditions for its
application
Follow up on the implementation of the Brand Manual and the
impacts of the use of the mark on goods and cultural products
Identify risk factors, threats, vulnerability, etc. in the PCCC area
Coordinate policies and actions of environmental management,
land management, development planning and climate change to
contribute to disaster risk reduction.
Define guidelines and environmental control and
asset management of mining and other extractive
activities in the PCCC.
Define the criteria, conditions, procedures and processes to
eliminate, reduce or mitigate negative impacts on environmental,
heritage, social and productive integrity that mining may have on
the PCCC.
Determinate assessment and management
interventions at the PCCC.
Establish and develop criteria, procedures and processes for the
management of joint operations that can generate impacts in the
PCCC (such as major tourism projects, large-scale
infrastructure, macro-housing, etc.).
Improve the network of tertiary roads of the
PCCC.
Improve the accessibility and
mobility in the PCCC to
strengthen coffee production and
activities such as sustainable
tourism.
Define and implement policy
guidelines for the control and
management of mining and other
extractive activity processes and
interventions that can generate
impacts in the PCCC.
Develop knowledge processes, risk reduction
and management of the PCCC and include the
necessary actions in regional and local
development plans, planning and risk
management.
Design and implement a risk
management plan that recognizes
the threats, vulnerabilities and
risks, and to ensure
environmental preservation and
sustainability of the PCCC.
Continue the development of the implementation
of the PCCC Brand as quality assurance and
related services of the PCCC World Heritage
products.
Integrate and promote activities and projects of
the Tourism Strategic Plan of the PCCC.

References

Ayuga Tllez, F. dir.. (2001). Gestin sostenible de paisajes rurales. Tcnicas e ingeniera.
Madrid, Fundacin Alfonso Martnez Escudero, 285 pp.

Banco de la Repblica. (2012). Boletn econmico regional. Eje Cafetero. Bogot.

Departamento Nacional de Planeacin (2014). Poltica para la Preservacin del Paisaje Cultural
Cafetero de Colombia. Bogot, Colombia. www.dnp.gov.co.pdf

Documento CONPES 3803 "Poltica para la preservacin del Paisaje Cultural Cafetero de
Colombia, Consejo Nacional de Poltica Econmica y Social Repblica de Colombia.
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Federacin Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia. (2009). Plan de Manejo del Paisaje Cultural
Cafetero. Bogot, Colombia.

Font, J. (1992). Turismo, percepcin del paisaje y planificacin del territorio. Estudios
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Garca et al. (2011). Factores que inciden en el relevo generacional entre los caficultores del
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Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia (2011). Paisaje Cultural Cafetero: Un paisaje cultural
productivo en permanente desarrollo. ISBN: 978-958-9177-55-6

Ministerio de Cultura (2013a). Patrimonio de la Humanidad en Colombia. Bogot: Lunwerg.

Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia. (2013b). Programa Nacional de Vigas del Patrimonio
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Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros (2011). Proyectos priorizados y presentados al Sistema
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World Heritage, UNESCO, http://whc.unesco.org/en/about/, accessed February 10, 2014.

T. Oberthr et al. (2011). Regional relationships between inherent coffee quality and growing
environment for denomination of origin labels in Nario and Cauca, Colombia. Food Policy
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World Intellectual Property Organization (2007). Making the origin count: Two coffees. World
Intellectual Property Organization WIPO Magazin, 5.

UNESCO (2011). Convention concerning the protection of the World Cultural and National
Heritage, World Heritage Committee, 35 th Session Paris, France. WHC-11/35.COM/20.
http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2011/whc11-35com-20e.pdf accessed February 20, 2014.

Uribe, S. and Velandia, C. (2013). Naturaleza, cultura y productividad: gestin del paisaje
cultural cafetero de Colombia. ISBN: 978-607-420-147-5. III Congreso Internacional en
Patrimonio y Desarrollo Sustentable (PYDES 2013), Mexico.

The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia: Strategy For A Solid Governance

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