CITY OF KONJIC RETURNS ‘LUNGS OF CITY’ TO FUNCTION BY REFORESTING BURNT AREA OF HOMOLJE WITH 10,000 BLACK PINE SEEDLINGS

KONJIC, JANUARY 16 (ONASA) – After the City of Konjic and the Federal Institute for Agropedology signed a Cooperation Agreement at the beginning of October 2023, activities related to environmental protection and improvement of agricultural production followed, which are already yielding results.
On the initiative of the City of Konjic, through joint activities with the Federal Institute for Agropedology and the company Šumarstvo “Prenj” Konjic, the project “Afforestation of the burnt area in the Homolje locality” was prepared, worth 250,000 BAM, which was applied to the Environmental Protection Fund of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and after approved will be implemented during 2024. In this regard, a meeting of the participants in the project was held on Monday in the building of the Konjic City Administration, and a tour of the field where the project activities will be carried out was organized.
– Unfortunately, during the summer months we have a large number of fires, and we would like to help Prenj Konjic Forestry to plant new seedlings on all burned areas, in order to protect the area as adequately as possible and to protect a healthy forest, and return it to the function of the “lungs of the city”. , which will mean a lot for all of us who live in this city in terms of clean air, water and soil. I am glad that we have experts in the Federal Institute for Agropedology who want and want to help local communities. A high-quality project was prepared, for which we are grateful to Director Vukotić and his associates, as well as to the employees of Forestry “Prenj” Konjic. I believe that this will be a good example of cooperation at this level, and that in the future we will jointly work on projects that will be implemented in our country as well as outside Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the mayor of Konjic, Osman Ćatić.
– The city of Konjic, which has a large territory and is abundant in forest, is faced with large burnt areas and landslides after the fire, which requires an adequate response. We wanted, through our engagement, to participate in the revitalization of burned areas and their return to their original state, by making analyzes and recommendations. Our goal and desire is to access activities that have not been done in our country so far, namely afforestation with the help of drones with indigenous species. I hope and am convinced that we will successfully carry out these activities to mutual satisfaction and continue with new projects in the future and that this example of good practice and cooperation will be followed by other local communities, which I invite to start this type of projects – said Dženan Vukotić, director Federal Institute for Agropedology.
– In the locality of Homolje, we had a big fire, when dozens of hectares of pine forests were destroyed, after that erosion and washing of the soil appeared, so that the surface layer was damaged, which significantly complicates activities in that area, because such a surface is very difficult and demanding to rebuild and those activities need a lot of time, work and sacrifice. For this reason, the project, which is implemented with the help of the Environmental Protection Fund, the City of Konjic and the Federal Institute for Agropedology, is very important. With these activities, we will not only revitalize the burned area, but also prevent the occurrence of forest diseases and further deterioration. As planned, the afforestation will be carried out with 10,000 indigenous species of black pine seedlings and an innovative method of afforestation with the help of a drone will be used. We are looking forward to the realization of this project, because soon we will again have a young black pine forest in the immediate vicinity of the city, emphasized Feđa Voloder, director of the company Šumarstvo “Prenj” Konjic