For years, the lake in Trn has been one of the most beautiful places for socializing and gathering of locals from this community, but also for other citizens from the surrounding area in the municipality of Banja Luka. Numerous stories are connected to this place, which is why it just exudes a special beauty and peace. It is a symbol of this community.
Unfortunately, we have recently witnessed mass gatherings of citizens during the tightening of measures due to the spread of the COVID-19, which caused such places to suffer the most, mainly due to garbage and caused damage to the natural ecosystem. Such careless gatherings have threatened, and continue to threaten, this beautiful natural pearl. During March and April, the lake became unrecognizable and due to the negligent behavior of individuals, garbage ended up in the lake itself, which began to lead to fish deaths, which are taken care of by the sports and fishing association from Laktaši municipality.
Fortunately, there are people who are still aware and ready to protect such places that represent the common good for all of us and preserve the heritage that we must leave as a legacy to future generations. At the initiative of Mrs. Mirela Roguljić-Kovačević, the owner of the land on which the lake is located, and who comes from a family that gave this place for public use, a large number of citizens supported the cleaning action and returning the lake to its original state. As our interviewee says, this response was very surprising and made her really happy.
(organizer of the civic action)
Photo: Mirjana Ribić
Below you can read the interview with Mrs. Mirela on the topic of organizing this wonderful initiative:
How did you come up with the idea to gather citizens?
- I know how much this lake means to my neighbors but also to people from my and surrounding local communities and how much they have been attached to this place. Some of them fell in love here, grew up, organized/participated at recreational events. Because of a couple of individuals who have probably and unknowingly done this kind of damage, I believe that again none of us deserve to suffer because of this kind of behavior. United, if we have succeeded in changing the consciousness of a person who behaves carelessly towards nature and his/her environment, we have succeeded in our mission, not only to preserve the common good but to spread the good among people.
How did you gather citizens and do you know the exact number of activists who participated?
The initiative was launched with a couple of good people and in agreement with them, we published this initiative on social networks, we mostly used our private profiles, through which a large number of citizens responded. And we do not know the exact number of activists, but there were dozens of people who during those few hours of socializing and activism proved to be one being, united in the same goal and intention, to preserve something of their own.
After that action, interesting messages appeared on the lake, how to preserve nature, how to behave, etc. How did you come up with this idea and did you notice the reactions of others to posting these symbolic messages?
- It was my wish, solely with the intention of mentioning all good people who responded and showed one positive example of how team work and working together can improve our community. It turned out to be very successful, because many photographed and appealed for the preservation of our lake’s ecosystem in the days following the action and pointed out the consequences of garbage and environmental pollution, and as I said a moment ago, if we change one person’s consciousness, we have already made a significant step forward.
Do you plan to continue organizing similar actions, do you think you will still have the support as you had with the first action?
- My fellow citizens gave me the motivation that we can continue to work together to do many wonderful things in this place, but also in the village itself. There is already a group of people who are guided by the same desire and passion to preserve what adorns our community, so from time to time we certainly participate in many other actions related to the settlement of Trn, from afforestation, some civic gatherings and the like. The pandemic has slightly changed the plans of all of us, but we do not give up and we want to continue with activities that improve the quality of life in our community, but we will try to continue motivating others on the importance of joint action.
Condition before the cleaning action
You mentioned the pandemic, how much did it affect the visits to the lake and now that you see how much the citizens love nature, do you recognize the potential for tourism development or creating some other content that would be interesting to all visitors?
- Yes, of course, the lake used to be a tourist complex, which gathered residents throughout BiH, but also in the region. When the weather is nice, you can see over 300 people visiting here every day, and imagine what it’s like when citizens from all over the country and the region gather. In the pandemic, this number increased, and for that reason we had a joint initiative addressed to the municipal authorities of Laktaši, who helped us start the construction of a mini children’s playground, which the citizens enthusiastically welcomed, and I don’t need to describe how much the children were happy having the playground. As part of the family business is related to tourism and catering, and we are currently guided by the slogan “Everywhere with us”, our goal is to work in the coming period with tourist communities across the country, in order to network people who are driven by the same desire and ambition and create a joint promotion for the common good of all of us. There are many opportunities, so we hope for good results in the future as well.
Action and results
What message do you have for citizens?
- Let’s learn a lesson from all this together and work on changes for the better, because this pandemic taught us a lot, what are our fears, fear of losing our loved ones, fear of preserving health, fear of losing freedom. Garbage disposal is an example of a poorly done test and we must not allow ourselves such mistakes. Nature loves us, but nature does not forgive. This way I would like to thank once again all the wonderful people who were part of the action and encourage them to continue to be so committed to everything they do, the example always comes from their own community, and we showed how our community is beautiful and how with a little love it can be even more beautiful.
Interviewed by Mirjana Ribić
Author of photos: Božana Kesić
Cover photo: Ribić Mirjana
