FBiH Parliament has officially confirmed the new Law on Ecological Flow, developed with the support of WWF and Centre for Environmentally Sustainable Development.
With this FBiH has obliged itself that it will secure enough amount of water for all users of water resources, from people and industry to animal and plant life in rivers and lakes.
”This is a great step for BiH and we are very proud that we gave our contribution”, said Francesca Antonelli, head of freshwater programs at WWF’s Mediterranean Program.
”With this new law we’ve established the legal mechanism which guarantees that the state will strive to have healthy water and preserving key water service to local people, such as water purification, fisheries and groundwater recharge,” she added.
In order to ensure the equality of people and nature in the use of water resources, WWF and Centre for Environmentally Sustainable Development has lead the training of decision makers and the approach adopted under the name of ‘ecological flow’ which is already being used around the world.
The aim of securing the ecological flow is the preservation of at least some natural samples of river flow, so that people, animals and plants that live could survive and have equal rights on using the river resources.
Regarding the issue of water management, BiH must harmonize its legislation with the European Water Framework Directive, which aims to achieve good ecological status of all water bodies in the EU. So, the WWF and CESD have explored the legal context of BiH in order to find the way to turn the by-law on ecological flow into the existing laws.
The process was closely monitored by government bodies and agencies, which ensured great political support for the adoption of this document.
“The Adopted by-law is not an obstacle to development (e.g. hydropower), but it provides a framework for sustainability that takes into account the needs of all users, including the nature, in order to preserve the unique biodiversity of this beautiful part of the world,” said Branko Vučijak of CESD.
