The vision to set things in motion in Bosnia
Still it is estimated that there are one million landmines remaining in Bosnia. The country´s tourist industry suffers from this cruel burden. It´s about time and absolutely essential to provoke that bold major effort, which is necessary to pool national and international strenghts for a mine clearance of the first 400 km² of natural landscape. WildernessResort Bosnia and Herzegovina is our attempt to initiate this major effort. The goal that some day Bosnian children may have a safe place to explore nature again (beside tourists), compensates for any difficulties still to manage on this road.
The deputy representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Amer Kapetanovic, gives his best in supporting our project. In the fall 2007 we got in contact with Bosnian authorities the first time. There´s a lot to be said for choosing the Unac-Valley, but we have choosen three locations which are equally suitable: The surroundings of Drina valley with Sutjeska National Park near Foca, the upper Neretva valley southeast Konjic and finally the Unac valley southeast Martin Brod in Kanton Una Sana at Bihac. Wild and crystal clear rivers characterize the valleys of the three potential locations and each of them is or at least was not long ago threatened by hydro-electric dams.
On May 9th 2008 at invitation of Una-Sana Canton we presented our concept in Bihac and in return Senad Ljubijankic, adviser of the Prime Minister and extremely familiar with the locality, showed us the advantages and beauty of the Una valley on a very personal round trip.
Establishing the Una National Park (covering 198 km²) on May 29th 2008 the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina made an important step towards the large-scale protected area needed. It´s now or never, that the creation of a nature reserve on a local basis – currently missing – opens an unique opportunity. Not only the Una, but also its major tributary, the Unac, will be preserved wild and untamed for future generations. 400 km² will be set aside for wolves an brown bears as a lasting reservation.
Once the protection of this large reserve is completed and the final mine clearance is done this opens an unique opportunity to launch a transboundary ecotourism-cluster and nature region with the Plitvice National Park in Croatia and the future Una large-scale protected area in the northwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina – within short reach of major spenders on tourism like Germany, Austria or Italy.