Expert Opinion: The Essence Is Who Will Take More Money, Not Ensuring Sustainable Forest Management

President of the Association of Forestry Engineers and Technicians of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ahmet Lojo and a professor at the Faculty of Forestry in Sarajevo, speaking about the Draft Law on Forests of the FBiH, said that there are numerous objections and that some solutions must be changed. Experts from the Faculty of Forestry were not consulted during the drafting of the proposal. Lojo believes that this government and politics are not genuinely interested in properly regulating the forestry sector.

The FBiH has been without a legal solution in forestry for years, and even if this law is adopted, it will not be implementable without by-laws and rulebooks.

As one of the bad examples from the Draft Law, Lojo cited that the forest user (forestry companies) must compensate the forest owner, i.e., the FBiH or the canton (this is still not regulated), for the value of wood stolen through illegal logging, regardless of who carries it out.

Professor Lojo said that BiH is certainly the only country in Europe, and probably beyond, where forestry exists as a developed economic branch without a Law on Forests.

- That should not have happened. The essence of passing the law, unfortunately, has been reduced to how much money someone will take from the forest, i.e., from forestry, and not whether the law will ensure sustainable forest management. That has been put on the back burner. The fund intended for financing and improving the state of forests is insufficient and smaller than it used to be, while the financial obligations of forestry companies have been drastically increased.

The portion of funds that forest users must pay to municipalities, cantons, and the FBiH has also been increased. This financial framework will not generate resources for improving the state of forests.

- The purpose of the law is to achieve permanent management and administration of forests. This must be ensured, says Lojo.

One of the shortcomings of the draft is that it nowhere mentions monitoring of the health status of forests, which is established in all countries.

Speaking about the wood industry and domestic furniture manufacturers, Lojo believes that it can be improved through stimulating state measures.

- The wood industry in our country is in private hands; it is now a struggle for raw materials, a struggle for the market, that is healthy competition. The state must provide incentive mechanisms for our wood industry to develop.

Lojo believes that priority in supply should be given to companies with a higher degree of finalization, employing a larger number of workers, and having settled tax obligations to the state.

From the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, they state that the decision on forming forest management areas and revising their boundaries is made by the Government of the FBiH upon the proposal of the Ministry, which is based on an expert study and the opinion of the cantonal ministry responsible for forestry affairs.

Expert on state property Muharem Cero earlier warned that it is extremely important that forests and land remain in the ownership of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that lower levels of government only have the right to use that property.