In Colombia, a country of great cultural and ecosystemic heterogeneity, there are many conservation strategies beyond protected areas that stem from both legal frameworks and local territorial processes. After much debate, these have been termed Complementary Conservation Strategies (CCSs), and their identification and recognition are necessary to achieving the country's conservation objectives. At the international level, under the leadership of the IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas, progress has been made in defining criteria to identify 'other effective area-based conservation measures' (OECMs), and the uptake of these guidelines by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is expected during the next Conference of the Parties meeting (COP 14). In Colombia, we have run the draft criteria for OECMs against several case studies to identify the main similarities and differences. This paper presents in detail three CCS case studies that show whether and to what degree these include elements relevant to OECMs. The criteria and principal considerations regarding them are analysed. We conclude that, given the similarities, the international debate provides an opportunity to identify, recognise, report and enhance these strategies in Colombia.