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Environmental information systems
The indicator shows the share of designated terrestrial protected areas expressed as a share of the total land area. It includes areas protected by other effective area-based conservation measures. The EU and global targets aim for 30% protection.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has 48 designated protected areas (34 in Republika Srpska and 14 in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) comprising an area of 1 778.08 km2, which is 3.47% of the country area. In 2011, 29 candidate Emerald Network sites were listed, covering approximately 6% of the territory. There are no protected areas in the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The jurisdiction of nature protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina is regulated at the entity level (Republika Srpska, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Brčko District). The spatial plan of Republika Srpska (for up to 2025) intends to protect 15–20% of the territory of Republika Srpska, and the draft spatial plan of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2008–2028 intends to protect 18.5% of the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Protection, monitoring and sustainable use of protected areas is challenging due to a lack of budget allocations, management plans and designated institutions responsible for management and also the inadequate staffing structure [3]. Potential Natura 2000 sites (122) were proposed in 2015, covering 18% of the country territory. Two areas are on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage list (the Janj primeval forest and Vjetrenica Cave) and four important bird and biodiversity areas have been recognised.
In response to the Kunming–Montreal global biodiversity framework, Bosnia and Herzegovina is revising its national biodiversity strategies and action plan. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and the recognition of the high conservation value of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s forests as areas with other effective area-based conservation measures are significant contributions to the framework.
References and footnotes
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- ↵European Environment Agency (EEA), ‘Emerald’, European Environment Information and Observation Network Central Data Repository, 4 September 2020, accessed 6 June 2025, https://cdr.eionet.europa.eu/ba/bc/emerald.
- ↵MVTEO and Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Strategy and action plan for protection of biological diversity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2015–2020), Sarajevo, 2016, https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/ba/ba-nbsap-v2-en.pdf.
- Milanović, Đ. and Golob, A., ‘Projekat “Podrška provođenju Direktive o staništima i Direktive o pticama u Bosni i Hercegovini”’, Glasnik Šumarskog fakulteta Univerziteta u Banjoj Luci, Vol 22, 2015, pp. 33–58.↵
- ↵UNESCO, ‘Ancient and primeval beech forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe’, UNESCO website, accessed 6 June 2025, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1133/maps; UNESCO, ‘Vjetrenica Cave, Ravno’, UNESCO website, accessed 6 June 2025, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1673/.
- Data are from BirdLife International.↵
- ↵FSC, ‘FSC in Bosnia and Herzegovina’, FSC website, accessed 6 June 2025, https://adria-balkan.fsc.org/en/fsc-in-the-adria-balkan-region/bih.
- Pezdevšek Malovrh, Š., Bećirović, D., Marić, B., Nedeljković, J., Posavec, S. et al., ‘Contribution of the Forest Stewardship Council to sustainable forest management in selected southeast European countries’, Forests, Vol. 10, No 8, 2019, 648.↵