Nature protection and biodiversity - Drivers and pressures (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Drivers

The one event which still has consequences and effects on all areas of society in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the 1992-1995 war. The state of biodiversity and the war are linked through the management of natural resources which, according to the terms of the Dayton Agreement, came under the jurisdiction of the separate entities. For this reason, even today a consolidated nature management policy does not exist in Bosnia and Herzegovina, neither is there a unique institutional organisation or a functional network for nature protection.

While the functionality of the institutional framework is one aspect of the effects of war, another is the fact that large areas of land are still mined and unavailable for management. Mined areas are also the reason for migration from rural to urban areas, abandonment of the land and traditional agricultural practices and the weak development of eco-tourism.

In the post-war period, society in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been undergoing an intense process of ownership transition. However, it is necessary to emphasise that the transition process began with the creation of a new state in an economy destroyed by war. This difficult ownership transition process has also significantly affected the status of biodiversity too. One of the most obvious examples is the construction of mini hydro-power plants in areas that used to be protected in the pre-war period.

According to a study in 2004 by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), domestic nutritional products cover 35-40 % of the country's needs, which is much less than before the war (60 %). Apart from potatoes, Bosnia and Herzegovina does not produce any important agricultural products in the required quantity. Moreover, the age structure of those employed in agriculture has changed as young people have begun to leave the countryside and move to cities and abroad, in search of a better life. According to records from 2004, 33-50 % of arable land in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska remains unused.

Power production comes mainly from the use of the country's own resources - hydroenergy and coal. Development of the energy sector, especially over the last 50 years, has been contributing to the visible destruction and degradation of entire areas of diverse habitats.

The lack of a clear and consistent framework for sustainable land use over the last 50 years has become more obvious in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed. This results from an unbalanced process of urbanisation. The unplanned expansion of urban and rural areas is accompanied by the construction of communication systems and the conversion of arable land and woodland which is often of outstanding natural value.

Before the war, apart from the massive development in connection with the Winter Olympic Games (Sarajevo, 1984), Bosnia and Herzegovina had mainly developed its capacity for transit tourism. However, Bosnia and Herzegovina also has great potential for eco-tourism and sustainable tourism, which includes mountain tourism, rafting, spa visits and cultural tourism. 

The 2003 National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) envisages the establishment of a number of protected areas and the development of ecotourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the Plan has not been implemented extensively due to difficult socio-economic conditions.

Pressures

During the preparation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's first report under the Convention on Biodiversity various types of pressures were identified on particular groups of organisms, certain ecosystems and landscapes.

Pressures on species and ecosystem diversity on a national scale:

• Habitat conversion
• Unsustainable use of resources
• Logging, hunting and poaching
• Permanent pollution of all environmental spheres
• Devastation and destruction of ecosystems
• Degradation and fragmentation of ecosystems
• Disturbance of the wilderness
• Unsustainable gathering of economically-important species
• Uncontrolled use of pesticides and fertilisers
• Uncontrolled introduction of alien species
• Uncontrolled introduction of and manipulation using GMOs     

Pressures affecting the diversity of the landscape:

• Construction of infrastructure
• Construction of traffic networks
• Construction of power facilities (hydro-accumulation, power plants, power transmission, pipelines, gas lines etc.)
• Construction of water supply facilities (catchment areas, trenches, dam lakes, retention basins, etc.)
• Agricultural activities (melioration, replotting, exhausting of habitats through monoculture, use of pesticides and fertilisers)
• Uncontrolled urbanisation
• Imbalance between development goals and sectors.