The Federal Institute for Agropedology and the company “Šumarstvo ‘Prenj’” Konjic, in cooperation with partners, today organized in Konjic the first professional conference in Bosnia and Herzegovina dedicated to the conservation and management of soil and forests, titled “TERRA BH 2025 Soil & Forest.” The conference represents a unique platform for the exchange of knowledge, experience, and best practices in the field of soil protection and forest ecosystems, which play a key role in safeguarding food security, biodiversity, climate resilience, and sustainable economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conference brought together experts, representatives of institutions, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations, with the aim of jointly shaping future initiatives and strategies for the effective protection of soil and forests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Dženan Vukotić, Director of the Federal Institute for Agropedology of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The first professional conference “TERRA BH 2025 Soil & Forest,” dedicated to the conservation and management of soil and forests, was held in Konjic.
“As for the conference itself, we want to draw attention to soil desertification, its degradation, and ultimately its protection, because the Federal Institute for Agropedology has been dealing with precisely this for the past 80 years—soil protection and soil management in agriculture, and now also in forestry and other areas we cover. The conference presented projects we are currently working on, and we will develop a strategy based on solutions drawn from the panel discussions we are holding today—two panels involving professional and scientific institutions. We are primarily a professional institution, but scientific institutions contribute by helping us formalize and structure this work, enabling us to develop future projects and apply for new international projects that are significant not only for us but for the wider region. We aim to bring soil into the focus it must have today. While pollution in terms of air and water is constantly present in the media, soil is not. It is up to us to place it in the spotlight, because the entire world and Europe are calling for soil to be given the same priority as water and air when it comes to protection,” said Vukotić.
The company Šumarstvo “Prenj” Konjic strives to preserve soil through a series of preventive measures, as fires and natural disasters repeatedly result in erosion and the loss of humus and nutrients. For radiokonjic.ba, Emir Lizdo, Head of the Planning, Analysis and Production Preparation Service at Šumarstvo “Prenj,” spoke about the implementation of preventive soil protection measures in the area of the City of Konjic.
“In various ways—primarily through preventive action—we are trying to address the problem of forest fires. Preventive measures mainly include the construction of firebreak roads and strengthening firefighting capacities. Repressive measures are also something we work on extensively, although they are more difficult to implement compared to preventive action. Repressive measures involve reforestation, that is, soil remediation in burned areas. We naturally carry this out first by clearing the burned land, followed by reforestation through planting seedlings or sowing seeds. Šumarstvo ‘Prenj’ is turning to modern technologies, and in the future we will carry out reforestation of inaccessible, mined, and fire-affected areas using drones—more precisely, not reforestation in the classic sense, but the dispersal of seeds by drone. In the future, we plan to further increase our capacities in terms of innovative technologies and their use in forest management and silvicultural works in the area of the City of Konjic, and we also hope to expand these activities across the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton and beyond,” Lizdo emphasized.
The Mayor of Konjic, Osman Ćatić, expressed his satisfaction with the holding of the first professional conference on soil protection in Konjic. He highlighted the importance of such professional educational events and announced support for initiatives aimed at environmental protection.
“I am pleased that the first professional conference on soil protection is being held here in Konjic, and that our company Šumarstvo ‘Prenj’ is a co-organizer of the event, together with the Agropedological Institute, with which we have an excellent cooperation. The City of Konjic has always supported—and will continue to support—initiatives that contribute to the protection of our environment, the development of sustainable policies, and the strengthening of cooperation between professionals, institutions, and local communities. Events like this make a concrete contribution to these goals,” said Mayor Ćatić.
The Minister of Trade, Tourism, and Environmental Protection of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Emil Balavac, announced that the ministry will continue providing support next year through reforestation projects in the Herzegovina region, as well as other activities necessary for the protection of natural resources.
“Next year, the ministry will continue its work through reforestation projects and cooperation with institutions, as well as through projects aimed at protecting certain areas we are planning, such as the Vrtaljica forest park in Konjic, Rujište, which we hope will one day become a nature park, and the Prenj area, which the federal ministry and the City of Konjic are working on. I sincerely hope that it will one day be declared a national park. All of this contributes to the preservation of these forested areas, as well as endemic species, primarily the Munika, which is of invaluable importance—not only for Bosnia and Herzegovina but as one of the few remaining habitats for this species worldwide. I hope that through this good cooperation and the recommendations of institutions and professionals, we will achieve a much higher level of protection,” said Minister Balavac.
The TERRA BH Soil & Forest conference has, for the first time, systematically brought together the fields of soil and forestry in one place, with the aim of encouraging and promoting the sustainable management of natural resources.
Source of text and photos: Radio Konjic –https://radiokonjic.ba/u-konjicu-odrzana-prva-strucna-konferencija-terra-bh-2025-soilforest-posvecena-ocuvanju-i-upravljanju-tlom-i-sumama/
