Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd
Appropriate Governance
Appropriate Infrastructure
Appropriate Strategy
Encourage the generation of a chain that increases the commercial value of the guanaco fiber by linking the primary production sectors with the national and international textile sectors.

Work with different actors at the local, national, and international levels, to contribute to the design of a fiber value chain that can trigger the activity. The work will consist of the identification of key public and private actors in order to provide tools for the commercialization of the product. The activities that will be developed in this stage of the project include meetings with the textile sector, application authorities, and various important local actors in this area.

-Meetings with representatives of national organizations to evaluate background, regulations, marketing, and support possibilities for wild guanaco management experiences.

-Meetings with selected fashion designers at the national (i.e Buenos Aires) or international (i.e Canada) scale, to generate a fair value chain and promote WFA experience.

-Value-added options will be identified at the national/international level through meetings with actors from the public and private sectors, to expand WFA as a “Based nature Solution".  

Wildlife camelid management actions began in the 80s, based on the philosophy of the "ICDPs", seeking to link biodiversity conservation with improving the life quality of life of local people. These projects, which initially focused on the vicuña, were based on the application of economic incentives to promote the use of wildlife. We prove that wild guanaco use could improve the numbers of those initiatives because of the wider distribution range of the species. In Argentina, the production of SAC fiber could easily double due to an increase in the number of sheared populations and an increase in the frequency of shearing. This would clearly lead to a change in the production paradigm in contrast to the current one. Guanaco fiber is amongst.The Cooperative decided to add value to the raw fiber in order to increase the value. By 2010, most of the projects had stopped due to difficulty in marketing guanaco fiber with a price of USD $40-60 per kilo. The "problem" is there are only two trade companies that buy raw fiber that is exported mainly to Italy and control the market prices. 

 

Promote sustainable use of wild guanaco populations through demonstrative experiences of live shearing in La Payunia.

The annual shearing of guanacos by the Payún Matrú Cooperative is being closely supervised by the Mendoza Department of Renewable Natural Resources to ensure that the potential economic income provided by guanaco wool is feasible and sustainable. At the same time, Cooperative members understand that by making "good practices" they receive "good benefits". CONICET has tested and developed methods for minimizing the stress of individual guanacos during capture and handling, that reduce negative impacts at the population level.  Our knowledge of ecological, physiological, and behavioral processes that "constrain" these camelids in La Payunia, based on more than 10 years of study, put us in a unique position for advising and teaching the cooperative and government stakeholders how to minimize impacts of live shearing on this population. We will continue training members of Payún Matrú Cooperative in "good practices" to make capture and shearing of wild guanacos within Wildlife Friendly Actions. The following activities will be carried out at this stage:

 

1)Pre-shearing surveys on population parameters, 2)Training of the personnel (without experience) in charge of guanacos handling during herding, within the corrals, and during shearing is key to the success of the activities. 3)Management of wild guanacos: Capture, shear, and release of wild guanacos will be carried out in two events, between September and November. 4)Physiological indicators: physiological stress in the function of handling conditions.5)Post-shearing surveys on population parameters such as social structure and population density.

 

-As we are working with wildlife, pre-shearing surveys on population parameters help us to select the best area to build the management structure.  

-Training of the personnel is fundamental (and the key for the success of this solution) for the good management of the animals, avoiding guanaco mortalities and operator injuries. The management of wild guanacos is different from any other domestic animal, and it is necessary to use particular structures and tools, as well as to learn specific maneuvers for their manipulation, keeping animal welfare in mind.

-Stress approach give us a key physiological indicator to reduce stress in relation to handling time.

-Post-shearing surveys give us key population parameters such as social structure and population allow us to compared with data before the live-shearing experience and define the impact on social disruption.

 

Ramiro Ovejero
Promote sustainable use of wild guanaco populations through demonstrative experiences of live shearing in La Payunia.
Encourage the generation of a chain that increases the commercial value of the guanaco fiber by linking the primary production sectors with the national and international textile sectors.
Generate wildlife friendly certifications that increase the market value of the fiber
To Foster that Wildlife Friendly Actions (i.e, guanaco use) could bring solutions on the conflict generated between conservation and livestock production paradigm.
Ramiro Ovejero
Promote sustainable use of wild guanaco populations through demonstrative experiences of live shearing in La Payunia.
Encourage the generation of a chain that increases the commercial value of the guanaco fiber by linking the primary production sectors with the national and international textile sectors.
Generate wildlife friendly certifications that increase the market value of the fiber
To Foster that Wildlife Friendly Actions (i.e, guanaco use) could bring solutions on the conflict generated between conservation and livestock production paradigm.
Ramiro Ovejero
Promote sustainable use of wild guanaco populations through demonstrative experiences of live shearing in La Payunia.
Encourage the generation of a chain that increases the commercial value of the guanaco fiber by linking the primary production sectors with the national and international textile sectors.
Generate wildlife friendly certifications that increase the market value of the fiber
To Foster that Wildlife Friendly Actions (i.e, guanaco use) could bring solutions on the conflict generated between conservation and livestock production paradigm.
Ramiro Ovejero
Promote sustainable use of wild guanaco populations through demonstrative experiences of live shearing in La Payunia.
Encourage the generation of a chain that increases the commercial value of the guanaco fiber by linking the primary production sectors with the national and international textile sectors.
Generate wildlife friendly certifications that increase the market value of the fiber
To Foster that Wildlife Friendly Actions (i.e, guanaco use) could bring solutions on the conflict generated between conservation and livestock production paradigm.
Welterbe Gastgeber – certified World Heritage Host

World Heritage Hosts (Welterbe Gastgeber) are certified quality hosts providing accommodation and services inside the World Heritage property of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. The programme was initiated in 2007 by the Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Association with the aim to improve the local tourism offer and avoid the loss of quality in the services provided. Today 18 businesses are certified as World Heritage Hosts. They are known for their high quality accommodation and services. They also act as ambassadors for the region having exceptionally knowledge about the many castles, legends, sights and adventure opportunities in the region as well as local products, including wine and cherries.

The certification is awarded to businesses that play a key role in the promotion of the wider World Heritage area on the basis of four criteria: quality of information and communication on the World Heritage value; active participation in local networks; quality of the products and services provided; relevance in relation to the World Heritage status.

In order to obtain the certificate, local hospitality businesses need to be certified by a national quality procedure (Service Quality Germany) and/or graded in accordance to the DEHOGA standards (German Hotel and Catering Federation).

The application for the certification is managed by the Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Association and the criteria for the award of the certificate have been developed by the tourism working group of the Association together with the European Institute of Tourism/Europäisches Tourismus Institut GmbH (ETI) in Trier.

  • The Word Heritage Host certification has helped create greater awareness for the quality of services and customer experiences.
  • The project has brought together competing businesses and enabled them to learn from each other. As a result, businesses have benefited from the exchange and improved their services.
  • The Upper Middle Rhine World Heritage Association is not a touristic marketing organisation. Therefore, there are limitations in the marketing of the World Heritage Hosts.
World Heritage Academy

The World Heritage Academy (Welterbe Akademie) is a training opportunity created to raise awareness on the OUV of the World Heritage property, other heritage values and the wider heritage of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. The academy aims at fostering local traditional knowledge, professional and practical expertise to build capacity in local communities and local actors living and working within and nearby the World Heritage site. The academy organizes seminars and workshops in cooperation with local artisans and professionals as well as experts in the field of restoration and heritage, and topics treated vary from important and central themes like tourism, green energy, and specific building and conservation techniques like the construction and restoration of dry stone walls.

The Academy offers inclusive and innovative means of engagement for local stakeholders and actors to build knowledge and capacities to face future challenges.

The World Heritage Academy was born within the framework of the LEADER project (BB2), an EU-funded initiative aimed at initiating pilot projects to strengthen the sustainability of territorial regions and local economies.

45% of the costs of implementation of the Academy were sustained by the LEADER project.

Due to the Corona pandemic, the start of the World Heritage Academy was postponed. We are optimistic that we can start the project in 2021.

Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Local Action Group

The Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Local Action Group (LAG) is the steering body of the LEADER project. The group includes members from 28 local organizations representing public authorities, the economic and social sectors, and civil society.

The LAG implements the Local Integrated Rural Development Strategy (LILE), which sets objectives for the funding period between 2014-2020   and formulates fields of action for the strategy around four themes:

  1. liveable settlements of the Middle Rhine;
  2. sustainable tourism and economic structures;
  3. preservation and sustainable development of the cultural landscape of the area;
  4. society and communities in the World Heritage property.

Members of the LAG advise and decide on projects that are submitted to the calls for funding on the basis of their pertinence with the LILE strategy.

The area of interest of the LAG is very similar to that of the UNESCO World Heritage as it includes the associated communities of the Rhine-Nahe, St.Goar-Oberwesel and Loreley and parts of the Rhine-Mosel municipalities and parts of the cities of Boppard, Lahnstein, Bingen and Koblenz.

The LAG also exchanges with national and transnational partner regions on joint cooperations. Currently,

the LAG is working on the application for a new funding period 2023 – 2029.

The action groups has been created in relation to the EU funded project LEADER (from the French Liaison entre actions de développement de l´économie rurale) which focuses on the establishment of models and projects to strengthen the sustainability of regions and their local economy. The LAG is in charge of implementing the LEADER action in the region. The LAG comprises a set of relevant members organizations working and acting on all key sectors and aspects of local development.

  • LEADER funding is an effective tool to initiate and finance numerous projects within the world heritage region, but the bureaucratic effort surrounding the application for new funding periods and the management of the LEADER funds should not be underestimated.
  • In addition to the LEADER funds, the LAG has been managing and supervising the federal funding program “Regionalbudget” and the state funding program “Ehrenamltiche Bürgerprojekte” (voluntary citizen projects) for several years now. This enables the LAG to support and fund a wide range of projects.