Establishing cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of the Environment on the prevention and management of natural disasters and floods

As part of a three-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, an expert delegation of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanism and Climate Change of the Republic of Turkey, accompanied by the coordinator of TIKA for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Erdinç Işık, met today with the Federal Minister of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, Kemal Hrnjić.

Led by the Head of the Research and Projects Department, Mr. İlyas Boztas, the expert delegation from Turkey included experts in the prevention of landslides, floods and soil erosion, as well as afforestation and dam management.

In light of the devastating floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina in October last year, the meeting focused on the ways of establishing long-term cooperation on the exchange of experiences, the staff training and the implementation of joint projects.

Minister Hrnjić thanked the Republic of Turkey for its support to BiH so far and for its readiness to continue to use its knowledge and experience to help BiH deal with the increasingly visible effects of climate change.

“Although we are increasingly aware of the risks of climate change, which pose a major threat at the global level, we must also ensure the proper and sustainable management of natural resources, especially forests, which play an extremely important role in flood protection. I therefore hope that soon we will finally have a new Law on Forests at the Federation level that will enable us to sustainably manage forests, thereby contributing to the prevention of floods and landslides which have increased both in frequency and devastation,” said Minister Hrnjić.

Further steps for action and cooperation were agreed upon following the visit to the flood-affected areas, including the development/analysis of flood risk maps for its prevention and management in Bosnia and Herzegovina.