The project team has worked with the Ministry of Environment to construct  and implement the National Route for reporting OECM and submitting to WCMC. This route was designed by the Ministry of Environment, as CBD focal point for Colombia, GEF Small Grants Programme in Colombia and the project. It is structured to guarantee the validation of each potential OECM by the government (Ministry of Environment), civil society (an NGO such as Fundación Natura) and Humboldt Institute linked to the Ministry with the scientific support necessary. These three entities comprise the Coordinator Group of the route. External evaluators and regional authorities will participate in the validation. It includes the individual assessment of each potential OECM by three verifiers who work independently from one another and send their evaluation to the Coordinator Group that establishes a consensual agreement on whether or not the area complies with OECM criteria and can be submitted by the Ministry to be included in WCMC data base. The project has also carried out capacity building of national verifiers, which will evaluate if potential OECM meet the criteria.

The transhumant conference is a consultation platform that brings together local and foreign transhumant pastoralists in order to discuss the resolution of conflicts between breeders - farmers, breeders - gamekeepers and wild animal breeders.

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.

Since 2005, the Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Association (Zweckverband Welterbe Oberes Mittelrheintal) is in charge of conserving and managing the World Heritage property of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. It includes representatives from the 52 municipal authorities, 5 districts and the federal states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. The Association’s structure is divided into five bodies:

• a board in charge of day-to-day business on behalf of the Association;

• a secretariat working as a contact point for all municipalities, as well as dealing with the implementation of plans and projects;

• an Advisory Board, an interdisciplinary expert group providing advice to five specific themes - landscape and viticulture, architecture and urban development, tourism, city and regional economy, as well as  art, light and architectural conservation;

• two permanent working groups, one focused on the safeguarding, maintenance and development of the cultural landscape, and the second one on tourism which is held in cooperation with providers of tourism services.

The Association meets twice a year to decide on the key planning and operational matters, including the annual budget and to ensure that the association's fields of action is in line with existing World Heritage guidelines.

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