Ecocide and nature protection in the Balkans

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia - known for their extraordinary natural resources and biodiversity - have been facing environmental crime and the devastation of nature

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, environmental legislation includes, among others, the rules for the protection of natural areas and the obligations arising from European and international conventions that BiH has undertaken to respect. The implementation of the existing legislation, accompanied by increased efforts to fill legislative gaps, could contribute to the promotion of protected natural areas – which also have great potential in terms of sustainable tourism and sustainable economy – and to the protection of numerous historical, cultural and natural sites of which the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are legitimately proud.

However, poor management of natural areas, inadequate laws and, above all, the dominance of economic interests have led to a situation where the few protected areas – which represent just 3% of the territory of BiH – are also the most vulnerable.

In the current historical moment, in which the consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly evident, the anthropogenic factors that threaten the environment – leading to the devastation, theft and sell-off of public goods – are often closely linked to organized crime and violations of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as one of the fundamental human rights.

The legislative framework in the field of environmental protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina is chaotic and full of gaps, as demonstrated by the fact that the Federation of BiH [one of the two constituent entities of the country] has not had any legislation on forests since 2009, when the previous law was repealed.

“We don’t even know how many forests there are in BiH, we don’t have any monitoring system. Those who commit small-scale wood thefts are arrested and fined, while those who cut down dozens of hectares of forest go unpunished, and even get rewarded with political positions”, comments Emina Veljović, a lawyer and director of the Aarhus Centar in Sarajevo.

It is thanks to this NGO that recently a new draft law on forests of the Federation of BiH was finally placed on the agenda of the parliament.

“The new law,” explains the jurist, “contains some provisions that regulate the sustainable management of forests and public participation in environmental decision-making processes, also providing for the prohibition of changing the intended use of forest areas with high natural value. The approval of these rules would put an end to numerous negative practices, averting attempts to legalize them”.

In a context characterized by inadequate laws and a tendency to exclude public opinion from decision-making processes, we are witnessing episodes such as the one involving the public company Autoceste FBiH (responsable for the management of the highways in the FBiH) which destroyed eighteen hectares of state forest in the locality of Kraljevo Brdo. Thanks to permits obtained from the FBiH Ministry of Forestry – permits that violate state laws – the company disposed of waste, produced during the excavation of a tunnel in Crni Vrh, in the place previously occupied by the forest.

In the Strategic Plan of Areas of Special Importance for the Federation of BiH, approved in 2017, the locality of Kraljevo Brdo is classified as an “area under special protection”.

Demoralized by cases like the one just described, the citizebs of Bosnia and Herzegovina are increasingly sceptical about the institutions' ability to protect BiH's natural resources.

Arson in North Macedonia

The Skopje Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against three men (a father and two sons), arrested in early August, on suspicion of deliberately setting a fire in a state-owned forest in the village of Patiška Reka, in North Macedonia. The three suspects face a prison sentence of six months to five years under Article 288, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Code.

According to witnesses, the fire was caused by throwing gasoline and oil among the low-growing trees.

“On 9 August, the three individuals started a fire on a public property in the locality of Dupka, on the outskirts of the village of Patiška Reka, in the municipality of Sopište. They threw flammable liquids – oil and gasoline – setting fire to bushes and dry grass, seriously endangering public safety. The suspects were spotted and reported by an eyewitness,” reads a press release issued by the Skopje Prosecutor’s Office.

This is just one of many cases that have recently attracted great attention in North Macedonia, which this summer has been hit by unprecedented fires that have devastated forests, including in national parks.

Firefighters have been working tirelessly. In August alone, 370 open fires were extinguished across the country. According to unofficial data, more than 1,200 square kilometers of forest have been destroyed.

Who burns and who cuts? Many citizens of North Macedonia are asking this question, fearing that the fires are being started deliberately to sell firewood or to turn it into pellets.

While Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski reassures that the burned forests will not be used for pellets and wood, the passage of a law banning the commercial use of trees damaged by the flames remains a mirage.

Spain is the first country to have banned, fifteen years ago, the use of trees damaged by fires for commercial purposes. Since the law came into force, the number of fires in the country has decreased by more than 80%.

In North Macedonia, forestry authorities do not have the capacity to clean up fire-affected areas, so clean-up operations are often outsourced to private companies. These companies tend to sell the trees cut down, which is then used as firewood or turned into pellets.

Given the frequency and extent of fires, there are fears that forest areas are being destroyed indiscriminately and deliberately.

Deforestation and organized crime in BiH

According to the legislation in force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, indiscriminate felling involves the felling of all or almost all trees in a forest area, thus endangering the survival of local ecosystems.

In recent years, several complaints have been filed in BiH against people suspected of felling entire forests. The reported cases – which rarely end in court – are just a drop in the ocean of illegality that characterizes the forestry sector in the country.

Forestry authorities, formally responsible for forest management, are often involved in criminal activities that seriously threaten the natural resources for which Bosnia and Herzegovina is known worldwide.

Let us take the example of Ribnik, a small town in the northwest of Republika Srpska, known for its forests, which cover 64% of the municipal territory. Last year, in just four months, over ten hectares of beech forest were cut down in the municipality of Ribnik. The inspections carried out by the competent inspectorate revealed that the trees were cut down in disregard of the regulations in force: all the stumps were meticulously marked, a fact that leads to the belief that the company “Ribnik”, an operational unit of the Forestry Service of Republika Srpska, cut down the forest in deliberate violation of the laws. The case came to light thanks to a forestry engineer who reported the illegal logging.

Despite the seriousness of the crimes and the arrogance of those responsible, the judicial authorities of BiH do not pay due attention to environmental crime. This is confirmed by the fact that complaints of small-scale theft of wood, filed by private individuals, account for approximately 70% of all complaints of destruction of forest assets.

A similar situation is found in the construction sector, where systemic corruption is often closely linked to environmental destruction. Agricultural fields are transformed into building land, profitable projects that threaten natural resources are authorized, public assets continue to be sold off.

It is therefore not surprising that the recent arrest of several state officials, suspected of abuse of office and corruption, has had a wide resonance in public opinion. The group, which also included Ibro Berilo, mayor of Trnovo, is accused of having purchased state lands from the public company “Sarajevo-šume” [responsible for the management of state forests in the Sarajevo Canton] for years, and then sold them at higher prices, despite the ban on the disposal of public property, introduced in 2005 by the High Representative in BiH.

Berilo is accused, among other things, of enabling the illegal deforestation of an area of 3.5 hectares and the issuing of unlawful permits and authorizations for the construction of residential and other buildings on Bjelašnica. Most of the deforested land was covered with fir and beech trees.

The Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office has determined that the aforementioned actions – which the prosecutor called “ecocide and urbicide” – have caused damage to the state in the amount of approximately 3.2 million marks (1.6 million Euros), pushing citizens who purchased apartments on Bjelašnica Mountain into a situation of legal uncertainty.

A project, submitted in 2003, to proclaim Bjelašnica mountain a protected area within a larger nature park, was never realized.

The importance of national parks

National parks are protected areas established by the state to preserve native – often endemic – plant and animal species and their habitats. In addition to natural resources, national parks may include sites of particular importance to local communities and evidence of ways of life throughout history.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines national parks as large natural areas designated to protect entire ecosystems, where environmentally and culturally compatible activities are also permitted.

In North Macedonia, however, the reality is quite different. A report on environmental corruption – supported by the OSCE and the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) of North Macedonia – confirmed that despite the state’s efforts to align national legislation with that of the EU, there are still many gaps that open the way for corruption.

The report identifies a series of critical issues regarding the issuing of environmental permits and authorizations, the work of the competent inspectorates and the involvement of the public in decision-making processes relating to the monitoring of air quality, the use of water resources and the management of protected areas.

The document highlights that the forests in North Macedonia are in danger. Forests are being destroyed, timber theft continues, and the management of state-owned forests given in concession is inadequate.

At the same time, the worsening standard of living has led to an increase in demand for firewood, considered the cheapest source of heating, thus paving the way for the underground economy and corruption.

"Since 2001, North Macedonia has lost approximately 5% of its forests due to illegal logging”, the report says, "and this negative trend continues. Despite signs of potential corruption, efforts by the relevant institutions to address the problem are inadequate”.

The report discusses the risk of corruption especially in the context of illegal construction in the Ohrid region, urbanization of protected areas, granting of concessions in strictly protected areas and the adoption of laws for the proclamation of national parks.

Natural disasters, a missed lesson

The Skopska Crna Gora mountain is one of the areas most affected by deforestation in North Macedonia, with huge expanses of eroded land. The consequences of savage deforestation are felt especially during heavy rains. The “bare” soils cannot absorb all the rainwater and the riverbeds do not have the capacity to accommodate the water that has escaped.

A few years ago, North Macedonia paid the consequences of decades of devastation of the Skopska Crna Gora mountain. On 6 August 2016, a strong storm hit the capital Skopje and the western parts of the country, causing the death of at least twenty-two people and dozens injured and missing.

After this disaster, which also affected the villages at the foot of the Skopska Crna Gora, the competent institutions conducted several studies and initiated projects focused on soil erosion, recommending measures to reduce the risk and remedy the consequences of degradation. One of the proposals was to restore the stability of the watercourses and build a canal to the village of Taor to convey the excess water into the Vardar River.

In the meantime, however, the situation has not improved and the aforementioned projects – as often happened in the past – remain a dead letter.

During heavy rains, due to savage deforestation, the watercourses on Skopska Crna Gora mountain turn into torrents, the water mixes with the eroded sediment, carrying with it pieces and blocks of rock. Strong erosion leads to soil degradation and the formation of furrows, ravines and landslides.

Biodiversity protection

North Macedonia, due to the presence of numerous endemic and rare species, is considered one of the key areas for biodiversity conservation in Europe. However, research and protection of biodiversity in the country depends on foreign donations, non-governmental organizations and individuals.

The state must invest more resources in this sector and strengthen the capacities of the relevant institutions, including the new Institute for Environmental Protection. This is one of the requirements that North Macedonia must meet in order to continue the accession negotiations with the EU. Currently, the Nature Unit, which operates within the Department for Environmental Protection, responsible for most of the activities related to environmental protection, has only twelve employees.

Victory on Mount Konjuh

The budgetary audit reports of forestry authorities in BiH reveal numerous irregularities. Despite the enormous value of forestry, a vibrant wood processing industry and the lifting of the ban on exporting logs abroad, forestry authorities continue to record large losses.

Inadequate legislation facilitates environmental crime: those responsible for high-level systemic corruption often go unpunished to maintain the status quo.

This is confirmed by the case of the protected area of Konjuh, near Tuzla. One of the most ardent opponents of the introduction of more stringent measures for the management of this area is the Tuzla Canton Forestry Service. According to the law passed in 2009, felling is permitted in over 70% of the protected area of Konjuh.

"From the time the law was passed until 2020, when a ramp was installed in the part of the protected area near the village of Banovići, trucks have been continuously taking away the forest heritage of Konjuh. In the past years, trucks were stopped and checked on the Banovići side, while on the other side of Konjuh they passed undisturbed, because the employees of the public institution that manages this protected area did not dare to stop them", explains Adi Selman, a member of the informal group "Karton revolucija" [Cardboard Revolution] from Tuzla.

Thankt to perseverance and the use of social media, the enthusiastic young people have achieved something that was considered impossible in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After two years of struggle – despite cumbersome procedures and the tendency of the competent institutions to obstruct and ignore the problem – the activists, as they emphasize, have defeated the timber mafia.

"Two years after a proposal to amend the Konjuh protected area protection plan was submitted to the parliament of the Tuzla Canton – and after fourteen years of forest devastation and unprecedented ecocide – a ramp and video surveillance cameras are being installed to monitor the movement of trucks that take wood away from the Konjuh area. The logging ban will be extended to the Oskova River basin and other fragile areas of Konjuh”, explains Adi Selman.

"This is proof that it is worth fighting," concludes the activist. Words of encouragement addressed to all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who, despite having paid the consequences of irresponsible attitudes towards the environment for decades, often do not dare to raise their voices or protest.

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This article was produced within the framework of the Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative (CIJI ), a project co-funded by the European Commission. Responsibility for the contents of this article lies with Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa and does not in any way reflect the opinion of the European Union. Go to the project page