UNESCO may declare the coffee landscape a cultural and natural heritage

Tuesday, 26 May 2009 00:00

From June 22 to 30, 2009, the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) will hold its 33rd Assembly to consider requests for the inscription of new sites on its World Heritage List, among them, the Colombian Coffee Landscape.

The 33rd Assembly, which will be held in Spain, will be a new opportunity for the inclusion, sought by the Ministry of Culture and the Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers during the past eight years, of the Coffee Landscape as part of the Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The departments that make up the Café Triangle and the department of Valle del Cauca have also carried out efforts in this direction.

Colombia already has eight locations declared by UNESCO as Cultural World Heritage Sites.

“This categorization is an important factor for the country. We are sure that more business opportunities in Colombia will be created, while showing the world the positive reality of the country in the field of tourism” emphasizes Nubia Stella Ramírez,Proexport’s Vice President for Tourism.

The Colombian coffee landscape encompasses the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío, and Valle del Cauca – a total of 62 municipalities in which the coffee classified as the best in the world is produced and exported, becoming the main factor in the promotion of Colombia’s economy and generating an important number of jobs in the countryside.

Eight Colombian sites are already on UNESCO’S list

At present, Colombia has eight sites on the World Cultural Heritage List:

• Port, Fortresses, and Group of Monuments, Cartagena,
  
• Los Katíos National Park,
  
• San Agustín Archaeological Park,
  
• Archaeological Park of Tierradentro,
  
• Historic Center of San Cruz de Mompox,
  
• Barranquilla Carnival,
  
• The village of San Basilio de Palenque,
  
• Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary.
  

If UNESCO accepts the coffee landscape as part of the World’s Cultural Heritage, Colombia will have nine declared sites to join the 32 cultural landscapes already on the list.

To reach this objective, the Ministry of Culture and the National Federation of Coffee Growers are working with several Regional Autonomous Corporations and the following six higher learning institutions: Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Manizales campus), Universidad del Quindío, Universidad La Gran Colombia de Armenia, Universidad del Valle, Universidad Católica Popular de Risaralda, and Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira.

The completion of the project and the attainment of the inscription on the UNESCO List represents not only the possibility of gaining access to international subsidies, but also of opening a door for the development of initiatives to strengthen the cultural and economic wealth of the entire region.