The picturesque village of Pecka in the west of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was in danger of disappearing completely. Houses were collapsing, and the number of inhabitants was decreasing. However, a group of nature lovers revived it and made it the center of adventure tourism.
For decades, locals have been leaving Pecka looking for a better life. About a hundred people live in the village, and at the beginning of the 80s, there were 2,500.
“After that unfortunate war, the old died out, some of the young people came back, some didn’t and so on. It was to cry for. It was a miserable village to look at,” says Mile Terezija, a local resident.
Changes began in 2014 when a group of enthusiasts made an agreement with local authorities.
“And that’s when we said it would be good to build an info center. The village is dying, people are coming, there is no one to give them information and we could do that while improving everything that can be improved,” says Boro Maric, one of the founders of the Greenways organization.
The school building has become a center for visitors, and the expanses of untouched nature attract people.
The source of Sana, one of the most beautiful wild rivers in BiH, is the main attraction.
“I think this is the only way to revive those villages. Because what Boro has done here certainly has an impact on all these local people who create, make local food and that. I think this is the only real way to prevent a village in BiH from disappearing,” says Nikola Moraca, a visitor from Banja Luka, Slobodna Evropa writes.
Photo: BIHAMK
E.Dz.
