On the occasion of the World Day of Forests, and the fact that the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not had a law on forests for 15 years, a press conference on the subject was held today in front of the government headquarters.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry has returned the Law on Forests of the FBiH to public discussion, after it has not existed for almost 15 years. Activists and professors of the Faculty of Forestry at UNSA say that since there is no law, it would be good to have one.
Lejla Kusturica from the Atelier Foundation for Social Change – ACT says that the absence of laws on forests has led to the fact that the field of forestry is one of the most unregulated areas.
“For almost 15 years in the FBiH, we have not had a law on forests, which has led to the fact that the field of forestry is one of the most corrupt and unorganized areas. We appeal to the Government of FBiH to adopt the comments of the profession, and to remove Article 63, which seeks to enable the devastation of forests for the sake of the private interests of foreign and domestic investors,” says Kusturica.
Activist Nina Kreševljaković also emphasizes that the law on forests must be adopted, but care must be taken under what conditions. He also points out that under no circumstances should the goal be to sell off forests for the sake of personal interests.
“Sustainable forest management is necessary, everything that is taken from the forest must be returned to the forest. The FBiH gave up its forests and donated them to the canton, and it wants to dispose of the forests, the forests are declared to be thickets, I think we need a modern bill. Wood is not the only income that a forest can provide. Our forests are deteriorating, we are constantly taking, but we are not giving them anything,” says professor from the Faculty of Forestry, Dalibor Balijan.
Anes Podić from Eco-Action spoke, also emphasizing that a law on forests is needed, which has not existed in FBiH for 15 years.
Source: klix.ba
