The governance structure has been officially established through the signature of a Programme Agreement by all the institutional stakeholders that operate in various capacities for the management and conservation of the site and its buffer zone: the Liguria Region, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, the Cinque Terre National Park, the Municipality of Porto Venere - Regional Natural Park of Porto Venere, and the Municipalities of Levanto (withdrawn in 2019 from the UNESCO office), Monterosso al Mare, Pignone, Riomaggiore, La Spezia, Vernazza, Beverino, Riccò del Golfo.

The Agreement defines the role of stakeholders and establishes the following structure (BB4):

• Coordination Committee ensuring that effective management is in place
• Community of buffer zone Municipalities coordinating objectives, problems, and activities relating to the buffer zone
• Technical-administrative work group responsible for implementing the Management Plan
• Technical Secretary supporting committees and working groups
• Consulting Committee (advisory role)
• UNESCO site office, which acts as site manager for the site and carries out joint site promotion activities and ensures the smooth running of the technical-administrative board.

Involving all stakeholders in the conservation of the Rice Terraces cultural landscape required the strengthening of existing networks, where the traditional knowledge behind the construction and maintenance of the terraces, carried by the Ifugao people played a pivotal role for their recovery and sustainable conservation. As a community organization where 99% of its members are Ifugaos themselves and based on the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), a national NGO working on community development projects, SITMo had strong foundations for the development of alliances. It developed partnerships with the national authority and the local governments in order to involve local communities in the process of recovering the terraces and develop sustainable strategies for their long-term conservation. SITMo focused on organizing farmers in the different World Heritage clusters to discuss issues confronting the terraces in focus groups with the communities. All along, archaeological and ethnographic research has been conducted continuously by SITMo in cooperation with academic institutions namely UCLA, the University of the Philippines, and Ifugao State University.