Celebrating the International Forest Day: Forest protection in FBiH is only possible with Federation Forest Law, says Minister Hrnjić

The Federal Minister of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry Kemal Hrnjić attended the conference and presentation “Forests and Innovations – Solutions for a Better World” with his associates in Bihać on the occasion of the International Forest Day.

The conference was an opportunity to stress the importance of protecting forests as a natural resource that Bosnia and Herzegovina has in abundance and take stock of the proposed text of the FBiH Forest Law and the Law on Propagating Material of Forest and Ornamental Trees and Shrubs in FBiH.

As was pointed out at the conference, the forests and forest lands in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina account for about 58% of the total living space, and the management of forests and forest lands is a vital state interest. Forests and forest lands in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina encompass about 1,518,466 ha, of which 1,241,336.1 ha or 82% is state-owned, while about 277,130 ha or 18% is privately owned and owned by other legal entities.

 The public consultation on the proposed text of the Law on Forests in FBiH and the Law on Reproductive Material of Forest and Ornamental Trees and Shrubs in FBiH has ended today. We have received a significant number of proposals, suggestions and comments. The proposals will be processed as soon as possible in order to speed up the required procedures and initiate the adoption of the Forest Law in the FBiH and protect our natural wealth”, said Minister Hrnjić during his address, stressing the urgent need to adopt the Forest Law.

“In Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina there are 1.5 million hectares of forests and they are one of the greatest natural resources that we possess. They are our lungs. Forests play an irreplaceable role in dealing with climate change and preserving biological diversity, and that is why it is our task and responsibility to protect them at the state, federal and cantonal level from all abuses and over-exploitation and preserve them for all generations to come,” said Minister Hrnjić.

The conference pointed out that the percentage of realization of annual afforestation plans and the annual forest harvesting plan in the period from 2008 to 2022 shows an imbalance in forest harvesting plans, which are implemented almost to the maximum, while the afforestation plans have a decreasing percentage of implementation.

Kemo Kadrić, head of the Department for Forest Management and Hunting at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, pointed out numerous shortcomings and problems in the forestry sector due to the lack of laws at the federal level.

“Some of the identified issues in forestry are illegal logging and illegal use of state forest land, reduced income from wood sale, selective application of cantonal laws, non-implementation of planned and mandatory investments in forest restoration, partial implementation of forest restoration works, continuous reduction of stocks of quality wood, resulting in poor wood mass for the wood processing industry. We can add to this the lack of legal grounds for the collection of new funds for financing projects in the field of forestry, as well as the impossibility of using funds from the rural development and forest protection, improvement and establishment fund. These are just some of the identified problems that clearly indicate the urgency of adopting the law that would remove the mentioned shortcomings and problems and contribute to the improvement of the forestry sector”, said Kadrić.

The participants of the conference, organized by the Forest Enterprise “Unsko-sanske šume” and the National Park “Una” carried out an afforestation campaign in the locality of Lipe near Bihać and visited the National Park “Una”.