Politicians want control, while forests deteriorate

It is a disgrace that the FBiH does not have a forest law that protects this natural resource of general interest, so that the inspection essentially has no legal basis for action in this area, said the chief federal forestry inspector Muhamed Hodžić for the BiH news agency Patria.

Hodžić believes that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, whose role is to enact laws in this area, also bears responsibility.

- They did have some proposals, but they did not pass in the FBiH Parliament. There is some disproportion. Politics is very interested in who the manager is. Probably there is influence on who the director is, the bodies in the management structures, the distribution of revenues of these bodies. Politicians decide, they make the decision. Someone can make a proposal, but if there is no political will, it will not pass – Hodžić believes.

For a country with 51% of its territory covered by forests, illegal logging is just one of many problems in this area.

- This problem exists in every country, not just in BiH. The economic situation has caused people to find other means of survival. The forest suffers because it is within reach, especially in rural areas, where people are traditionally accustomed to being able to enter the forest and take wood – says Hodžić.

As Hodžić stated, inspectors work exclusively according to the Law on Inspections in FBiH, which gives them certain competencies, as well as the Law on Administrative Procedure and the Criminal Code.

- We manage. Cantons have passed laws, but from the perspective of the Federation, these laws are unconstitutional, but we still work according to them. Through inspection supervision, we engage the police. Where we discover a violation, we hand the case over to cantonal inspectorates, which can act according to the law and issue a misdemeanor order – states Hodžić.

He sees a solution in adopting a Law on the technical part, which would define the professional aspects of forestry work, i.e., who is cutting the forest and how it is being cut, the method of procedure, how and to whom the forest can be granted for use. He emphasizes that the laws that were previously proposed failed on the organizational part of forestry, but that for forest protection, it does not matter whether they are municipal companies, cantonal, or a federal company.