At the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, a decision was adopted obliging Bosnia and Herzegovina to assess the potential impact of the Buk Bijela hydroelectric power project, planned on the Drina River, on the high natural values of Durmitor and the Tara River through an updated environmental impact assessment in close consultation with the state of Montenegro.
“Given that two more hydropower plants (Foča and Paunci) are planned in the upper reaches of the Drina River (apart from Buk Bijela), the Committee asked the member states (Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia) to maintain the continuity of the river ecosystem and the continuous presence of young undisturbed flow of the river, as well as to ensure that the potential impacts of those planned projects are assessed in accordance with guidelines and tools for impact assessment in the context of World Heritage. BiH and Serbia must also ensure an assessment of potential impacts, through the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment, in cooperation with Montenegro,” it is stated.
As further stated in the press release, for years citizens’ associations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro have pointed out the risks that the Buk Bijela project carries, as well as the problems associated with it, i.e. the negative consequences that its construction would have on people’s lives. the middle. Because of that project, as stated, a number of appeals were submitted to international bodies, and the appeal procedure was also conducted before the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Durmitor National Park is on the UNESCO list of world natural and cultural heritage, while the Tara canyon has been declared a world ecological reserve and according to Montenegro, these areas would be damaged by the construction of the Buk Bijela hydroelectric plant in Foča, Republika Srpska, i.e. Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Jelena Ivanić from the Center for the Environment states that, in addition to all the problems associated with that project, starting with the very method of awarding the concession, what is particularly worrying is its impact on biodiversity and the environment, as well as the potential for the continued development of tourism on the Drina and Tara rivers.
“Here are the most important habitats of the globally endangered bream, which is only found in some of the cleanest rivers in the Danube basin of Southeast Europe, and the construction of any type of dam would damage water quality, biodiversity and tourism. It is clear that these projects must not be built, in order to preserve highly valuable natural areas of importance for all three countries,” she warned.
Nataša Kovačević from the international organization CEE Bankwatch, which monitors the financing of energy projects, expects Bosnia and Herzegovina to launch a new environmental impact assessment procedure and cross-border environmental impact assessment.
This includes impacts on the exceptional natural values of Durmitor and the Tara River, in accordance with the decision of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, and the assessment of the cumulative impacts of all planned hydropower projects in the upper Drina basin on the territory of Montenegro, through the new Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment.
Nataša Milivojević from the Ecological Association ‘Rzav’ from Serbia and an associate of the World Organization for Nature Protection – WWF Adria states that the attitude of Serbia, which has the largest share of ownership in the project (51 percent), is particularly worrying when it comes to risk assessment and the impact on the environment. the middle.
As stated, the public in Serbia is still not familiar with the agreement between Serbia and BiH’s Republika Srpska entity, as well as on undertaking a role in the cross-border impact of that project on Montenegro.
“This international decision confirms that the concerns of civil society organizations and the Government of Montenegro about the harmful cross-border impacts of HPP Buk Bijela are justified, which coincides with the recently published Draft Decision of the Secretariat of the ESPOO Convention (from October 3, 2023) in the proceeding between Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The draft of that decision assesses that the cross-border environmental impact procedure for the HPP Buk Bijela project was not carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Convention, and it is ordered to repeat the procedure and prepare a new environmental impact assessment,” it is emphasized.
The Center for the Environment expects close cooperation with the state of Montenegro in the further action of Bosnia and Herzegovina and believes that the harmfulness of the project for nature and people will be determined, which will lead to the states abandoning the construction of that project.
Photo: illustration
