These days, the councilors of the three local self-governments – Livno, Tomislavgrad, and Bosansko Grahovo – in whose area it is located, were presented with the Draft Law on declaring the Livanjsko Polje a protected area under national legislation. The workshop on this topic was organized by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Center for Environmental Protection, the Ornithological Society “Nase ptice”, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the United Nations Environment Program, and Stur.ba.
Namely, it is among the largest in Europe, without protection for now. Its wetland and freshwater ecosystems are endangered. This was established by experts working on the Study for declaring Livanjsko Polje a protected area.
“It is a karst field with 3 rivers, permanent rivers, a karst field with countless temporary watercourses, it has phenomenal abysses, it has phenomenal mountains that surround it, it has flora and fauna that is extremely rich,” stated Biljana Topic, a member of the Ornithological Society “Nase Ptice”.
That is evidenced by 858 species of plants that grow in this field. And this is home to almost 80 percent of the birds recorded in our country.
”Livanjsko Polje is the most important area for birds in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), one of the four most important areas for migratory birds on the entire Adriatic migration corridor,” said Goran Topic, a member of the Ornithological Society “Nase Ptice”.
Livanjsko Polje is a real treasure trove of biological diversity with a number of endemics related exclusively to karst fields, but also great tourist potential. Protected areas are the best magnet for tourists as well.
Since up to 70.000 wetlands have been recorded in Livanjsko Polje and Busko Lake during the winter, the aim of the project is, among other things, to prevent poaching pressure on birds and to establish non-hunting areas. It is also a habitat for many species of mammals, and on the edge of the Livanjsko Polje, on the slopes of Cincar, more than 800 wild horses live. Therefore, our interlocutors point out that they will insist on the protection of this exceptional area.
