For our colleagues from the Centre for the Environment, the Aarhus Centre BiH and the Dr. Stjepan Bolkay Centre, Earth Day on 22 April in Sarajevo was a happening, calling for a speedy adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Nature Protection and the Law on Forests. Both laws have been sitting in a drawer for years, although they are needed to protect the remaining untouched nature.
The Law on Amendments to the Law on Nature Protection has been waiting in the government for more than two years. On this occasion, it was urged that it finally be sent to the parliamentary benches for adoption.
"After years of waiting for an adequate legal norm, we are witnessing a massive destruction of natural resources, even in protected areas themselves. This practice must be stopped. And this is only possible by adopting the Law on Amendments to the Law on Nature Protection, which will be harmonized with EU directives," said Nina Kreševljaković, a lawyer with the Aarhus Centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Particularly in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is a lack of systemic instruments that would not only allow the public to contribute to the establishment of new protected areas but would also slowly move the country's environmental protection system towards the integration of the Natura 2000 network.
We are also calling for the earlier parliamentary moratorium stopping the destructive construction of small hydropower plants in the protected areas to be clearly enshrined in the Nature Protection law. Europe's last wild rivers must be preserved!
Currently, only about three per cent of Bosnia and Herzegovina's territory is officially protected - compared to nearly 30 per cent in the European Union - despite being home to many unique ecosystems and a large proportion of endemic Balkan flora and fauna.
Arnika has been working in the Balkans for many years. Now, with support from the Transition Promotion Programme of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we are helping local organisations - the Centre for the Environment, the Aarhus Centre Sarajevo and the Dr Stjepan Bolkay Centre - to designate new officially protected areas as part of the 'Jewels of Nature of Bosnia and Herzegovina' project.
