The funeral customs associated with mirila or počivala were inscribed onto the list of intangible cultural heritage of the Republic of Croatia on 27 December 2007, following years of effort and dedication by individuals who documented the sites and raised awareness about their destruction.

Professor Mirjana Trošelj, a Starigrad-Paklenica local, has systematically researched mirila on southern Velebit since the 1970s — documenting sites, oral histories, ornamental patterns and iconographic motifs in the area stretching from Barić Draga to Modrič. Dr Aleksandra Faber, an archaeologist from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, collaborated on the research of Velebit's cultural heritage and advocated for the protection of mirila and the traditional stone architecture of Velebit. Šime Gazić, a Ljubotić local, was among the first to draw attention to the condition of the sites and actively participated in their preservation and presentation to the public.

In 2006, with the involvement of the Conservation Department in Zadar, the Ministry of Culture, and the Tourist Board of Starigrad Municipality, mirila were granted the status of preventively protected cultural property, followed a year later by formal status as intangible cultural heritage.

Protection encompasses ensuring public access, encouraging the community to recognise their own heritage, transferring knowledge within original environments, multidisciplinary research, and preventing disappearance and destruction. However, protection in practice has not always been effective — during the excavation of the gas pipeline route towards Zadar through the Bukovica area, several sites were destroyed. Experience shows that protection is most effective where mirila are presented for tourism and recognised at both local and national levels.

In most cases, the mirila sites themselves do not yet have individual protection status, primarily due to unresolved property-legal relations and the need for a precise spatial survey.

Visitors play an important role in preserving mirila. It is recommended to approach them with care and respect, without disrupting the space.