MB4: Hydro-Engineering Institute Sarajevo, HEIS

Report of the NATIONAL AWARENESS MEETING, Jahorina, October 13, 2003

At present a project named “Setting up an Operational Unit under the Environmental Steering Committee (ESC)” is implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported by the EC under the LIFE Third Countries programme (LIFE 02 TCY/BIH/009). This project is devoted to ensuring harmonization of the legal framework between both B&H entities (The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska), promoting and ensuring efficient, proactive management of resources for actions on environmental issues, delivering timely, relevant and reliable information on the environment to the policy-makers and to the public in general and setting up a national environmental information system in line with the EEA/EIONET approach.

The third project workshop (WS3) had the environmental information system as its subject: EEA, development of a national system in line with EIONET, public information, QA/QC, indicators. It was organized in Jahorina during 11-14 October 2003. This gave a unique opportunity for a MAMA National Awareness Meeting (NAM) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, since, during the workshop it came out that there is a need for major improvements in coastal area monitoring, data collection, processing and forecasting. Also, since most of the key stakeholders were already present at the workshop, it was an opportunity to use their presence, inviting a few missing key persons, to organize a NAM in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project managers, both ministry entities, and the project coordinator REC BiH (Regional Environmental Center) agreed with this approach and gave adequate space for this activity. Lunch and coffee was offered to the participants of the NAM at the hotel where the workshop took place.

A list of participants of the B&H NAM follows:

LIST OF THE PARTICIPANTS

MAMA National Awareness Meeting in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jahorina, October 13th, 2003.

NAME AND LAST NAME

/

INSTITUTION

International representatives
1. / Gordon McInnes / Deputy Director of EEA, Denmark
2. / Melita Ivanova / FYR of Macedonia
3. / Lauri Klein / EEIC, Estonia
4. / Despo Fatta / ETC/ WMF , Cyprus
5. / Lidija Globevnik / Institute for Waters, Slovenia
6. / Tinus Pulles / ETC, Netherlands
7. / Dušan Pichler / Ministry of Environment, Republic of Slovenia
8. / Anita Pirc-Velkavrh / EEA, Denmark
Bosnia and Herzegovina representatives
1. / Mensur Šehagić / Minister in Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
2. / Ramiz Mehmedagić / Minister in Federal Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment
3. / Borislav Jakšić / Assistant Minister for Ecology, Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
4. / Mehmed Cero / Assistant Minister for Environment, Federal Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment
5. / Tarik Kupusović / B&H National Coordinator for MAP and for MED POL
6. / Aziz Čomor / Ministry of Water Management, Forestry and Agriculture FB&H
7. / Mladen Rudež / Chief of Department for Water, Air and Solid Waste, Federal Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment
8. / Azra Korać-Mehmedović / Chief of Department for Biodiversity and Natural Ecosystems, Federal Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment
9. / Denis Zvizdić / Prime Minister of Canton Sarajevo
10. / Senka Barudanović / Faculty of Science, Sarajevo
11. / Hamid Čustović / Faculty of Agriculture, Sarajevo
12. / Aleksandar Marjanović / Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
13. / Ljiljana Stanišljević / Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
14. / Fethi Silajdžić / Bosna - S Oil Company
15. / Sabina Sijarić / Federal Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment
16. / Dragan Nikolić / Institute for Urbanism RS
17. / Sveto Cvijić / Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
18. / Esena Kupusović / Federal Meteorological Institute
19. / Azra Bašić / Federal Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment
20. / Boris Jandrić / Architecture and Civil Engineering Faculty, Banja Luka
21. / Radojka Popović / Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
22. / Martin Tais / Federal Meteorological Institute
23. / Andrea Marković / CETEOR
24. / Petar Gvero / Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Banja Luka
25. / Radmila Kostić / Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
26. / Anđa Hadžiabdić / Federal Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment
27. / Radenko Jotanović / Faculty of Law, Banja Luka
28. / Petar Janković / Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
29. / Dragan Milojčić / Institute for Urbanism RS
30. / Ozren Laganin / Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
31. / Plamenko Tais / PROSOFT
32. / Kiza Zoran / Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
33. / Željka Omeragić / Federal Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment
34. / Boris Kusturić / Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology RS
35. / Nešad Šeremet / Country Director of REC BiH (Regional Environmental Center for SEE, Budapest)
36. / Sunita Selak / REC BiH
37. / Andrea Bevanda / REC BiH
38. / Ljljana Pandžić / REC BiH
39. / Želimir Radišić / Institute for Statistics RS
40. / Branko Vučijak / Hydro – Engineering Institute Sarajevo

During the NAM day the participants had the opportunity to attend the presentation from B&H MAMA national responsible partner Branko Vucijak, from the Hydro-Engineering Institute at Sarajevo. Following the presentation, as well as during the remaining Workshop days, the participants had an opportunity to discuss MAMA progress, its relevance for Bosnia and Herzegovina, its links with the ongoing LIFE project and potential synergy etc.

The general conclusion was that since Bosnia and Herzegovina has a narrow coastal strip (about 25 km, all belonging to one municipality), surrounded from east, south and west by Croatia, out of the 7 examined MAMA areas (transport, tourism & leisure, fisheries & aquaculture, oil & gas, ship building/repair, shipping, sand & gravel) only tourism and leisure (with an accommodation potential of about 5000 beds in the coastal area), a limited aquaculture as well as environmental management in general are of relevance to B&H. A dedicated group for “Water” will examine the possibilities for improvements in the sector (coastal area monitoring, data collection, processing, reporting and forecasting), with the first results to be expected during 2004.

Information material (brochures, flyers, dedicated articles, pencils) on MedGOOS and MAMA was distributed to all NAM participants.

1