We note the victory of environmental activists in the fight for nature conservation and the establishment of a protected area in Kakanj. Last week, at the Kakanj Municipal Council, the Decision on granting consent for the establishment of the protected area “Gornja Trstionica – Bukovica” was unanimously adopted, at the suggestion of the municipal head, Mirnes Bajterević. Residents of Kakanj, including representatives of the legislative and executive authorities, showed awareness.
The municipality of Kakanj is one of the few local communities that has shown an interest in protecting the area. They started that process a few years ago with an elaboration, harmonizing the municipal and cantonal spatial plans, and involving experts in scientific research. The document determined the natural and cultural values of this municipality, which an informal group of citizens had been pointing out for years.
“The municipality of Kakanj is 60% covered by forest. Our goal is to protect this area, with the fifth category of protection, to put it further in the function of development – there are villages in that area, there is an urban part, but we also want to protect our forest, our rainforest, our watercourses”, said the chief Bajtarević.
Kraljeva Sutjeska has many cultural and historical monuments, and on the way to Ponijeri there are also huge natural resources. It is expected that representatives in the ZDK Assembly will recognize the importance of protecting the area with the aim of developing and strengthening tourism.
Environmental activists point to the importance of preserving the biodiversity of the Bistrik swamp, where endemic plant and animal species have found their habitat.
“Not even mines can last forever. So an entire economy will have to be reoriented in some other direction. Currently, we see the potential in tourism. Not only in ski resort type tourism or visits to certain locations – but also in rural tourism. We would develop our villages that way”, says Hajrija Čobo, representative of the informal group of citizens, Trstionica i Boriva Nature Park.
Although Bosnia and Herzegovina is among the richest countries in Europe in terms of biological diversity, unfortunately, this is not a sufficient reason for the authorities to change their attitude towards nature. Only 3% of the territory are protected areas, in ZDK 1.5%.
“We hope that other local communities will follow the example of Kakanj and take a similar step, because practically there is no local community in Bosnia and Herzegovina that does not have anything significant in its area,” points out Davor Šupuković, secretary of the Fojničani Maglaj Citizens’ Association.
It is a devastating fact that there are no protected areas in the Zenica area, even though the spatial plan provides for 10% protection. Environmentalists are dissatisfied with the persistent refusal of the Zenica authorities to initiate the declaration of the “Babino – Tvrtkovac” nature park with an area of 60 square kilometers, even though expert tests have already been carried out. Instead, on the agenda of the session, the discussion on the protection of two yews on Pepelari.
“Citizens are not aware of how many advantages we have from the protected area. They don’t know that protection is not a ban on entry to that area, but only that it is better organized, that you have entities that take care of it, that will take care of the implementation of the regulations and that will lead to the fact that we can simultaneously have an area for housing and for agriculture and mining and for tourism, but to implement it”, explains Samir Lemeš, president of the Citizens’ Association Eco Forum Zenica.
If others do not recognize the importance of making a decision on protected areas, Bosnia and Herzegovina could soon turn into a land of mines. And the least benefit from that would be the citizens of our country, who, unfortunately, leave it every day, as we witness, due to disordered regulations and corruption, Federalna reports.
