Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
The PCC constitutes an outstanding example of human adaptation in difficult geographical conditions on which hillside and mountain coffee farming developed. It is a cultural landscape in which natural, economic and cultural elements are combined with a high degree of homogeneity in the region, and which constitutes an exceptional case in the world. In this landscape, the human, family and generational efforts of coffee growers are combined with the permanent accompaniment of their institutions.
Together, these efforts have established an exceptional model of collective action that has made it possible to overcome difficult economic circumstances and survive in a rugged and isolated landscape. In this way, a difficulty has developed based on the small property, which has demonstrated its sustainability in economic, social and environmental terms, and which has positioned its product as one of the best coffees in the world. This social and economic model has established a region with a high degree of cultural unity, expressed in a material cultural heritage in which the construction techniques of both urban settlements and rural coffee houses stand out, as well as an intangible cultural heritage in the one that expresses the link of the population with the cultivation through parties, carnivals and celebrations of the Paisa identity inherited from the Antioquia colonization, as a unique feature in the world created by the inhabitants of this region.
The PCC is made up of certain coffee growing areas in the departments of Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca, located in the Central and Western foothills of the Andes Mountain range. This region has traditionally been recognized nationally and internationally as the Eje Cafetero and, more recently, as the Ruta del Café, as a result of a campaign that seeks to promote the area nationally and internationally.
The economy and culture of this region have revolved around coffee for more than a century, that is, only a few decades after it was populated by the colonizers of Antioquia, who began the occupation of the territory in the nineteenth century. Processes such as the planting of the first coffee plantations, through the construction of rural houses and infrastructure for the transportation, processing and commercialization of coffee, and the subsequent transformation of production techniques, have given an exceptional dynamic to this landscape.
This combination of a deep-rooted coffee tradition with the heritage of Antioquia colonization has played a fundamental role in shaping regional culture, and has generated a wealth of manifestations in areas as diverse as music, dances, traditional cuisines and architecture, manifestations that have been transmitted from generation to generation.
For all this, the Coffee Cultural Landscape forms a unique region in the world, which deserves to be preserved over time, known and admired by humanity.