A workshop entitled “What is a National Park for me?” was held in Mostar today, which is part of a campaign to raise public awareness on the values and positive effects in protecting forest and mountain areas in FBiH. It was conducted by the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
Representatives of local communities from the municipalities of Posušje, Konjic and Mostar attended the workshop so that they could become informed of the concrete characteristics of the concept of protected areas.
The goal of the workshop is to present the benefits of a national park for local citizens, and the possible reasons for and against the protection of designated areas.
In a statement to journalists, Professor of the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Sarajevo Dalibor Ballian said how the workshop will focus on how BiH deals with protection of national parks and mountains that are, according to him, a very valuable resource that BiH has. It also gives BiH a perspective because through development of tourism, it can contribute to valuable resources.
However, Professor Ballian says that investing in protected areas is a long process. In order to generate profit, it is necessary to receive help from the state. He gave as an example Tirol in Austria. It was the poorest part of the country, and with the help of government investment funds became the most prosperous area.
