The Center for Environment held meetings with representatives of local communities of Gacko and Kalinovik with the aim of acquainting stakeholders with the planned activities of the project “Research and protection of the upper Neretva River”, which will be conducted in these two municipalities.
The meeting was attended by representatives of local government, public companies and local associations who expressed their views on the project and its importance for these local communities and clearly supported the activities of the Neretva River, which is encouraging and creates preconditions for future protected areas to be properly and responsibly managed.
“Support and active involvement of the local community and local government is perhaps the most important part of long-term and sustainable river protection because the local population is the main user of the river and will benefit directly if it is protected and preserved. That is why I am extremely glad that the meetings in Kalinovik and Gacko ended positively and that support was provided to the project for the protection of the upper Neretva, “said Matija Penezic, a representative of The Nature Conservancy, an international organization that supports and co-finances this project.
In June this year, the Center launched an initiative with the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology to declare two protected areas on the Neretva River with the aim of preserving habitats and species that live in this highly valuable natural area. These are two initiatives, “Upper course of the Neretva, municipality of Gacko” and “Natural fruiting site of trout Ulog, municipality of Kalinovik”, which is officially supported by the competent ministry and the Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Republika Srpska.
“In the coming period, in cooperation with experts, we plan to conduct field biological research of nine groups of organisms and prepare a study to declare the protection of this area. It is a natural habitat inhabited by a large number of rare, endemic and relict plant and animal species. We are glad that the competent institutions have recognized the importance of this initiative and the need to put the upper course of the Neretva River under protection and thus prevent the destruction of this area, which is especially endangered by the plan to build seven small hydropower plants, “said Jelena Ivanic, vice president of the Center for Environment.
The protection of the upper Neretva would create conditions for the preservation of cultural and natural values that represent the potential for the development of sustainable tourism and strengthening the local community, which is particularly affected by the departure of people and low employment rates. Untouched nature is becoming a rarity that we need to preserve for future generations, not a resource that will be destroyed and used for the short-term enrichment of today’s tycoons. The area of the upper course of Neretva is really the remaining part of untouched nature with a great wealth of biodiversity in the river basin whose hydro potential has already been significantly exploited.
“The fact that a genetically unique species of endemic brown trout of the Adriatic haplotype survives in the upper course of the Neretva, as well as that their preserved habitats indicate the need for protection, hydropower projects are a very bad choice and there is no public interest and justification for further investment in such projects. area “, said Viktor Bjelic from the Center for Environment.
It should be noted that part of the planned research on the upper Neretva will be conducted within the Eco BiH project funded by the European Union.