The case of the quarry in Donja Jablanica has raised numerous similar issues across Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). After a devastating storm that claimed the lives of over 20 people, many environmental activists have intensified their efforts. They are demanding an urgent review of concessions for quarries, solar plants, and small hydropower plants, as well as the immediate adoption of a forestry law at the Federation level. Can the case from Donja Jablanica spark a wave of change in halting the abuse of natural resources in BiH?
Citizens and activists throughout BiH are demanding stricter oversight and review of concessions in their communities to avoid the fate of Donja Jablanica.
The latest protest took place in the village of Miljkovici, on the Mostar – Citluk road, where activists highlighted mass reclassifications of state-owned forest and agricultural land into construction zones. They question how the investor received a permit without legal access to the solar plant.
“I demand that someone urgently halt the investor – Marc d.o.o., the builder in this case – so that an administrative dispute can proceed. If they are in the right and have the connection, let them continue working, but everything points to the fact, even the documents from the Motorways of the Federation of BiH (FBiH), that they do not have a permit to connect to the main road,” said Mario Cosic, a representative of an informal group of citizens.
Environmental activists emphasize that they are not against development projects and investments, but they demand that expert opinions, especially those of local residents, be taken into account. They also remind the public that the absence of a forestry law at the FBiH and Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC) level leaves room for uncontrolled deforestation on a massive scale, without oversight or sanctions.
“They know a lot and generally understand the area well. They live there, and they know what kind of impact rivers, quarries, and asphalt plants could have, along with all that infrastructure, which is of great interest to capitalism today,” said Adnan Djuliman from the Eco Center Blagaj.
“One of the first logical steps now would be for every level of government in the FBiH and Republika Srpska (RS) to review their spatial plans and landslide maps to determine whether small or large hydropower plants, mines, or quarries are planned in landslide-prone areas. Such projects must be automatically canceled and halted to avoid recording another disaster five years from now,” said Lejla Kusturica, director of the Foundation Atelier for Community Transformation (ACT).
The Ministry of Trade, Tourism, and Environmental Protection of the HNC believes that collaboration across all levels of government is essential for decision-making.
“We all need to sit together – cantons, municipalities, along with the FBiH – and discuss how to regulate these areas. We must tighten the rules for issuing permits, ensuring they are re-evaluated every year or every other year, instead of being issued once and lasting indefinitely,” said Emil Balavac, Minister of Trade, Tourism, and Environmental Protection of the HNC.
Numerous landslides have destroyed and endangered houses in Buturovic Polje. Experts warn that one cause could be small hydropower plants, against which residents and activists have fought for years.
“I’ve been dealing with this issue for years, always opposing it both as an activist and a professor. We’ve seen from the example of the Doljanka River what nature can do if we disrupt the ecosystem. Nature will strike back with full force if we destroy what it has built over millions of years,” said Sanel Ridjanovic, professor of zoology and ecology.
Ridjanovic also recalled the collapse of the quarry in Bijela near Mostar in April this year, which has still not been addressed. The HNC prosecutor’s office recently opened a case and is now gathering all relevant documents. Witnesses will be questioned, and all necessary expert analyses will be conducted to determine whether there are elements of a criminal offense in this specific case.
