Integrity
The six site components of the CCLC are located in what is known as the Eje Cafetero, or coffee growing axis, a region that is characterized by the social and cultural characteristics of the coffee landscape and production. The site components of the property provide localized glimpses into production activities and landscape features, which equally dominate the wider setting and region. To facilitate the understanding of this exceptional landscape, the property’s elements of social adaptation to a unique use of land, and the development of highly specific cultural and social traditions in both agricultural practices and arrangement of settlements, contribute to the complete image of a continuing, productive and living landscape. The continuity of traditional small plot coffee farming, often run in family units, and the strong linkages to the associated cultural traditions contribute to the integrity, but are vulnerable to fluctuations in the international coffee market prices and resulting economic pressures. The integrity of the property would also be negatively affected by gold mining activities.
Authenticity
The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia is an authentic reflection of a centenary process of man’s adaptation to challenging geographical and climatic conditions of this area, known as the Eje Cafetero. The CCLC contains very few contemporary incongruous additions to its traditional architectural and landscape patterns, and no substantial modifications to the small towns located in the property as well as in the buffer zone. Aspects such as traditions, language and other forms of intangible heritage, have been preserved, mostly by owners and the local community, who have a high sense of social appropriation of their cultural heritage.