People from Krajina join protests in Croatia against hydropower plant at Una River's source

(Patria) - While the Una-Sana Canton is marked by the Una Regatta, with about 1,200 participants from around the world, the public is concerned that the Republic of Croatia has approved the construction of a hydropower plant by a private investor at the very source of the Una River, in close proximity to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Local environmental organizations organized protests today, and support came from Krajina, which is fighting for the survival and health of its citizens.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the Una-Sana Canton annually to enjoy pristine nature and whitewater sports. All of this could become a thing of the past if Croatia builds a hydropower plant at the very source of the Una River.

"What is already happening on the ground is water turbidity. Stopping or changing the flow regime is very dangerous, even during construction. All of this affects wildlife – which disappears over time. This intervention is catastrophic for the environment – I cannot understand how, in the era of climate change, someone would think of building it," says Prof. Dr. Vildana Alibabić, from the Faculty of Biotechnology in Bihać.

The source of the Una River has been included in the European Protected Areas Network since 1968, raising questions about the permit for the construction of the hydropower plant.

"The Republic of Croatia and the competent local authorities were obliged to inform us before issuing the construction permit – we do not know if an environmental impact assessment was conducted regarding this intervention," says Jasmin Emrić, a representative of NES in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

Croatia has already unilaterally, without involving BiH, begun the construction of a nuclear and radioactive waste repository in Trgovska Gora, which is also on the very border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"I would say that an attack is being carried out on the Una River in its lower course, where Croatia is trying to build a nuclear waste repository. Now we have a new intervention, planned in the upper course of the Una River, which would certainly have negative effects on the ecological system," adds Emrić.

While state institutions, as usual, remain silent and wait, both Croatian and BiH environmental organizations fighting for the preservation of the Una and its purity, as well as the health of citizens, have reacted.

"Nature is vulnerable. However, it is powerful and invincible if people are united. Everything smells like the old formula 'public interest plus private interest equals corruption'. It won't pass! The only defense against all attacks on the Una and all our rivers is to utilize these resources for sustainable development," states Amarildo Mulić, president of the Una Emeralds Association from Bihać.

Representatives of Una Emeralds and other environmental organizations, as well as numerous environmentally conscious people from Krajina, are protesting in Croatia today, to fight for the life and health of the residents of Pounje, especially future generations.