This mountain lake of glacial origin is located on the mountain Vranica at about 1.630 meters height above sea level. It is about twenty kilometers from the town of Fojnica, mostly on a macadam road.
At the end of April 2022, the Assembly of the Central Bosnia Canton, which also includes the lake, adopted amendments to the Law on Declaring Prokosko Lake a Natural Monument, announcing more intensive inspection controls and stricter protection measures. But, the cantonal government also announced the legalization of illegally built facilities around the lake.
This former cattle-breeding place with katuns, shepherd’s huts, after the war of the 1990s, became a target of illegal construction and uncontrolled tourism.
Idyllic landscapes have been replaced by scenes of illegalconstruction, with about 250 illegally built cottages, according to municipal records.
Unprotected ‘protected area’
BiH has 43 protected areas of nature, of which 31 are in the Republika Srpska (RS) entity and 12 in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). These areas represent parts of the territory important for biodiversity, preservation of the original landscape, and tourist potential.
However, neither the Law nor the competent inspections have stopped the uncontrolled construction of facilities that serve the owners mainly to accommodate tourists who are also not entered in the official guest records.
The mayor blames distance
The mayor of Fojnica, Sabahudin Klisura, who is a member of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the ruling party in the area, explains the devastation by the fact that Prokosko Lake is “far from the city”.
A fine of 150 euros for illegal construction
Amir Secibovic, Cantonal Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction, Environmental Protection, Returns, and Housing, claims that the previous law did not allow for effective inspection control that would prevent illegal construction.
It was defined that the supervision is performed by an environmental inspector who has no authority, except for issuing minor fines. Someone who started the construction is fined 300 BAM (about 150 euros) and that’s where the story ends. This is the last cry of all of us to save this pearl,“ told Secibovic, adding that the legal changes will enable the engagement of construction inspectors.
He explained that the law on legalization will also cover other areas in the Central Bosnia Canton, such as Mountain Vlasic, where facilities have been built without the necessary permits.
At the same time, the mayor Klisura claims that this is a “sensitive issue”, not directly answering the question of whether it is too late to save Prokosko Lake announced by the authorities of the Central Bosnia Canton.
