In October, we invited Bosnian activists to the Czech Republic to show them inspiring examples of good management of protected areas and sustainable local development.
We started the study tour with a stop in the Slovak Paradise National Park, where the nature guards showed us the most interesting places and told us about how they take care of natural values and tourists. We continued to the Czech ecovillage Hostětín, where heating is done with biomass, waste water is purified in a root wastewater treatment plant, and the ecological organization Veronica has built an eco-center here and runs a cider house. In the Moravian Karst, we visited the House of Nature and the majestic Punkva Caves. Then we visited the village of Ořechov, which last year won the Adapterra Awards for exemplary landscape revitalization and water management. The mayor and deputy mayor showed us how to carefully take care of the landscape and local community life. At Olomouc region, we looked at the Litovelská Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area, took a ride on Morava river, and at "Olodvorek", the activists from Bosnia talked about their work on river protection and the promotion of the rights of local communities. We ended the study trip with a visit to the Arnika project in Poodří, where we take care of old willows and pear trees, which are home to the rare hermit beetle (Osmoderma barnabita).
The study trip was organized by the organizations Arnika (Czech Republic), Center for the Environment (BiH) and Center Dr. Stjepan Bolkay (BiH) as part of the project "Natural jewels of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Strengthening the resilience and participation of local communities" with the financial support of the Transition Promotion Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
The authors of the photos are Majda Slámová (@majda foto on Facebook, @majdafoto on Instagram) and Radomír Maceček. Please remember to credit the authors when sharing photos.
