Elders and others with land-based knowledge (ki ki no mah gay win) are important for their role in guiding decision-making in personal, family and community matters related to use of the land. Knowledgeable Elders are respected for their role in ensuring continuity of Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan (keeping the land). Elders advocated for the community voice to be heard in defining strategic direction for Ancestral Lands, and in the nomination dossier and all communications and decisions about Pimachiowin Aki. Elders are part of Annual General Meetings, regular and special meetings of the Corporation, planning team meetings, and community-based lands working group meetings, to guide protection and management of Pimachiowin Aki in accordance with the principles of Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan. Adherence to these principles requires local community authority in protection and management and a continued presence on the land. Those with the greatest experience on the land (e.g. Elders, head trappers, trapline helpers and others with personal and family ties to specific family harvesting areas) are leaders in sharing Akiiwi-gikendamowining and ensuring compliance with the principles of Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan. 

First Nations started a process to define Ancestral Lands by completing land use and occupancy studies, archaeological research, moose habitat studies, historical documentation, and community-based land management plans. From 1999, they started the dialogue on the importance of Ancestral Lands, way of life, industrial threats and how they could work together and help each other. In 2002, the First Nations Accord was signed, a historical document describing the commitment to work together to protect Ancestral Lands. The impetus for creating a not-for-profit charitable corporation with a Board of Directors was to have a forum for continued and regular dialogue, consensus-based, non-hierarchical decision-making and a legal entity that could make contracts, raise funds, and develop a World Heritage nomination dossier. The Corporation was established in 2006 with a Board consisting of one representative from each First Nation and Provincial Government. An Executive Director oversees operations and provides support and advice. The mission is to acknowledge and support Anishinaabe culture and safeguard the boreal forest, preserving a living cultural landscape to ensure the well-being of Anishinaabeg and for the benefit and enjoyment of all people.

Depending on their location, pilgrimage routes are owned by individuals, local or national governments who take care of their maintenance. Local inhabitants and Non-Profit Organizations (NPO) participate as well of the restoration, conservation and maintenance of some of the pilgrimage routes. For example, many preservation societies are active on the Iseji pilgrimage route where they conduct daily cleaning activities on the mountain passes where old roads remain. They also collaborate with patrolling after typhoons and heavy rains. These activities are recorded in the report and submitted to the respective Prefectural Board of Education via the respective Municipal Board of Education.

Most of the forested areas of the Kii mountains have been planted because this area has traditionally  been a place for logging. Trees are cut down every 50 to 100 years, and after the logging, people plant small trees. This traditional logging strategy has been done since the 16th century under a traditional technique such as seed collection, planting, planting density, thinning and felling especially in the Yoshino County, Nara Prefecture, where cherries are characteristic. Nara Prefecture has also introduced a tax for the conservation of the forest environment and is working with volunteers and private organizations through its municipalities to cut down abandoned forests. The abandoned forests have been replanted with broad-leaved trees instead of coniferous trees such as cedar and cypress, which are suitable for forestry, and mixed forests of coniferous and broad-leaved trees are being converted to forests that are free of human intervention in the future. In parallel with traditional tree-planting and harvesting, we are trying to maintain the forests and forest landscape in the Kii Mountains in a sustainable manner.

Through the whole process that the sacred places in the Kii Mountains were being designated as cultural heritage and natural heritage (as part of a national park), and later included in the Biosphere Reserve, to finally be part of the World Heritage property, the religious bodies were officially granted their protection and management following the traditional knowledge carried for centuries, based on religious beliefs and sacred values. For instance, due to their sacred character, primeval forests have been conserved under strict felling prohibitions by the different religious communities. The mountain landscapes are interpreted as materialized “mandalas” by Shingon Buddhists, and Shugendo practitioners reproduce “mandalas” by doing pilgrimage and performing their ascetic practices in these natural environments. For pilgrims, the Kii Mountains represent the paradise on earth. Another example is the Nachi sacred forest that has been designated as a “Natural monument” under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Property, and the management has been done by the Kumano Nachi Shinto shrine, as part of their sacred place. The Nachi waterfall is regarded as sacred. This means that the sacred waters cannot be touched or diverted.

Besides containing cultural heritage designated under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Property enforced by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the property contains areas that conform the Yoshino-Kumano National Park which administration is in charge of the Ministry of the Environment and the three prefectures that are related to it: Wakayama, Nara and Mie, and their local authorities. The Three Prefectures’ Council for the World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, was first established to pursue the nomination to the World Heritage List, and after the inscription, it is in charge of coordinating conservation actions and developing the management plan. The governors of the three prefectures serve as chairpersons and vice chairpersons, while the mayors and heads of education of the municipalities serve as members of the council. The Agency for Cultural Affairs participates as an observer. The protection of cultural properties is carried out in cooperation with the department of cultural property protection and regional development of each prefecture and the person in charge of the municipality.  In addition, the Council is advised by a scientific committee consisting of experts from several fields.