Bosnia and Herzegovina

Inception workshop for the Federation of BiH was held on February 15, 2018 at the premises of Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences University of Sarajevo.

Doc. Melisa Ljusa, Consultant in the project, presented main goal and activities of the DS-SLM project following Modules of the project framework. Special attention was given to the mainstreaming strategy, SLM scaling out and WOCAT tools. Making a link with ongoing activities, Prof. Custovic presented main outcomes of the UNCCD LDN approach for the Federation of BiH focusing on planning and benefits such an approach could bring at the local level. Ms. Amina Omicevic, main coordinator of UNEP office in BiH, presented SDG goals, focusing on importance of FAO/GEF projects in achieving those goals at the local level. Mr Senad Oprasic, GEF Operational Focal Point for BiH, presented GEF 7 financial mechanism and possibilities for funding projects at state, entity and local levels.

Participants of the inception workshop were representatives from the state, federal and cantonal ministries and institutions, Universities of Sarajevo and Mostar, NGOs, Municipalities of Tuzla Canton, international agencies and organizations, students. Some of the conclusions and recommendations by stakeholders as well as the Minutes of the meeting can be consulted in the following documents:

Conference „Agricultural land management problems in HNK Canton with focus on private land management” was held on February, 23, 2018 in Ravno Municipality. Project consultants were participated in the conference covering following topics:

• Prof. Dr Hamid Custovic: New module of land evaluation for crop production (example of Popovo polje – own research)

• Doc. Melisa Ljusa: Study of land consolidation in Popovo polje (own research). In addition to this, representative of Ravno municipality (municipal project coordinator) presented “Pilot project of land consolidation in Popovo polje, location Donja Luka”.

The conference was a great opportunity to discuss land consolidation issues and possibilities for scaling up and scaling out.

Project Steering Committee was established at the beginning of the project. It consists of representatives of the state, federal, cantonal and municipality level.

Mainstreaming strategy focusing on Tuzla Canton was prepared following FAO/DS-SLM Sustainable Land Management Mainstreaming Tool - a tool to help designing a strategy for mainstreaming and scaling up sustainable land management into national and subnational decision-making processes.

The main objective of the strategy is to integrate SLM into the Development strategy of Tuzla Canton 2016-2020 as well as cantonal and municipalities' annual action plans.

The Mainstreaming Strategy foresees to have impact on:

• Facilitating SLM implementation.
• Improving the understanding and importance of land degradation and SLM issues.  
• Providing long term support for SLM implementation and scaling out (beyond the DS-SLM project).

All strategic documents at state, level of the Federation of BiH and level of cantons related to land management, agriculture and environmental protection have been collected and reviewed. The review was a basis for identification of SLM objectives, barriers, impacts to achieve and opportunities for scaling out SLM practices.

More information on the Land Cover analysis can be found in this document:

1-Bosnian-Podrinje Canton, 2-Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, 3-Canton 10, 4-Sarajevo Canton, 5-Posavina Canton, 6-Central Bosnia Canton, 7-Tuzla Canton, 8-Una-Sana Canton, 9-West Herzegovina Canton, 10-Zenica-Doboj Canton

Cantonal level assessment was done through preparation of land capability maps in GIS as well as land use studies for nine municipalities in Tuzla Canton (Tuzla, Gradacac, Gracanica, Banovici, Sapna, Zivinice, Kalesija, Kladanj, Srebrenik) (see map below). Analysis related to soil quality, land use changes, agricultural production, pressure on land etc. have been performed for selected municipalities. Land Use/Land Management Systems overview analysis was completed for the Municipality of Ravno.

The main act to consider the value of land from the perspective of various sectors and their needs (urban planning, agriculture etc.) in the Federation of B&H is the Decree on unique methodology for preparation of the spatial planning documents (Official Gazette of the Federation of B&H, No. 63/04 and No. 50/07), which prescribes the obligation of making the Land capability study as a segment of spatial basis. Land capability study projects are being implemented by the Institute of Soil, Agrochemistry and Melioration (PAM) of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences University of Sarajevo. By using defined soil bonity categories, land capability study defines the natural potential of soils in terms of agricultural production and food production, and defines the zones for various land use types. From the rational land use point of view, it means adequate spatial planning, urban development and environmental protection.

Two key project areas have been identified: Tuzla Canton and Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.

Tuzla Canton

Tuzla Canton is the most land degraded area in BiH with high potential for agriculture. This is the main coal mining area in BiH generating electricity from coal. Electricity production is the greatest environmental ballast for the city of Tuzla. Excavation of coal and deposition of coal combustion products have a drastic influence and many times lead to degradation of natural landscapes and soil habitat. Tuzla Canton is the most densely populated area in the country. It has been considered as most polluted area in the Balkan region as well. All soil/land degradation problems are present in this area starting from physical damages of soil to soil contamination by different contaminants. Deposition of coal residues is one of the main problems in this area. In addition to this, a specific problem is agricultural land abandonment, degradation of forest and forest land as well as presence of landslides.

Herzegovina Neretva Canton – Ravno municipality

From a sustainable land management point of view, the submediterranean region of BiH is most vulnerable due to shallow, stony soils sensitive to erosion. Karst fields are best soil/land in this area. Due to very limited amount of land, agricultural land is very fragmented. Fragmentation of land, drought and socio-economic factors are a key reason why agricultural land is abandoned. In order to make agriculture sustainable and more productive, land consolidation is needed as well as application of agro-technical measures. Therefore, Popovo polje area-Municipality of Ravno was selected as one of the priority areas for the project.

In Ravno municipality, average size of farm in 50% of polled farmers amounts up to 2 ha; 43% have 2-5 ha; only 7% have farms bigger than 5 ha. 88% of polled farmers stated they were interested in the participation in a land consolidation project, while 12% were not.

Based on the national / subnational assessment, the following project areas have been identified: nine municipalities in Tuzla Canton (Tuzla, Gradacac, Gracanica, Banovici, Sapna, Zivinice, Kalesija, Kladanj, Srebrenik) and Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (Ravno municipality) including hotspots in those areas.

Criteria used for selection of landscapes:

• Types of land degradation
• Surface of degraded areas
• Existance of land capability maps (KUV) and studies as a basis for planning and analysis
• Interest of local communities for SLM
• Capabilities of local communities (e.g. participation in FAO PLUD project)
• Ongoing projects and activities
• Possibilities for funding of SLM
• Economic-ecological zones (e.g. potential for agriculture),
• Interest of farmers for land consolidation
• Funding opportunities for scaling out

Soil map of Banovici municipality from KUV (above) and soil profile (below)

Ravno municipality (above) and its land consolidation area (below)

WOCAT training in Tashkent

Partnership and collaboration with Turkey and Uzbekistan has been established during the regional WOCAT training in Tashkent, 7-12 August 2017. Participants of the training from the Federation of BiH actively participated in the training. Presentation on project activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina were presented by Melisa Ljusa.

SLM practices were documented using the WOCAT SLM Technologies and Approaches Questionnaires and Database.

A book “Sustainable land management – approaches and practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina” is under preparation (in Bosnian and English). Chapter titles are as follows:

1. Introduction 
2. Principles of sustainable land management
3. Adaptation and support to determining dimensions of the best sustainable land management practices 
4. Overview of the best practices and techniques of sustainable land management (techniques, approaches and examples from practice)
5. Examples from practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina and from the Wocat database 

Following climate conditions at first place, 18 SLM technology types applicable in BiH (133 examples from different countries) have been extracted from the WOCAT database.

 

Consultative meetings and trainings to introduce WOCAT tools and methods on local level held in Tuzla on April, 04, 2018 and Zivinice on April, 05, 2018.

 

WOCAT training was organized on 17-18 October 2018 in Zivinice. Support for WOCAT training and work with database was provided by Theodora Fetsi from FAO. Detailed presentations on Introduction to WOCAT methodology and tools, and Documentation of SLM best practices: Questionnaires on Technologies (QT) and Approaches (QA) were held. In order to support description of selected SLM technologies, a consultant provided support to project team in the field.

Tuzla municipality (degradation issues in deposit sites from coal mining, identification of restauration sites) and Zivinice municipality (growing blueberries in containers with Rekultisols) were visited.  

During the training, a technical support in Mainstreaming strategy preparation was provided by Soledad Bastidas from FAO.

Participatory Land Use Development (PLUD) was implemented in selected municipalities of Tuzla Canton in order to identify hotspots, applicable SLM measures and to increase capacity of decision makers and land users.

The phrase “Participatory Land Use Development” contains three distinct concepts: land use, development and participation.

The PLUD methology applied in this process is described in the PLUD Guidelines: Biancalani R., Brown D., DeWit P., Clementi S., Ljuša M, 2004: “Participatory land use development in the municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina” that is available here: Guidelines PLUD in the municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Concept of PLUD (FAO)

Following concept of the PLUD approach, a number of meetings were held with various stakeholders (decision makers, municipal administration, local farmers, NGOs etc.).

Meeting with the Minister of Agriculture of Tuzla Canton and his colleagues

Consultations with local farmers

The Institute of Soil, Agro chemistry and Melioration of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences University of Sarajevo organized training course on SDI and practical use of the land capability study project. A two-day training course was held in May 2017, attended by representatives of seven municipalities of the Tuzla Canton.

Training course on SDI and practical use of the land capability study project

The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Sarajevo organized a round table „Land Resources of the Federation BiH – Situation, Challenges and Perspectives“.

 Issues discussed were:

Problems associated with managing state and cooperative land

What is the difference between state and cooperative land? Who is responsible for monitoring this issue from the point of issuing the concession to the point of the application of appropriate management practices? Is the establishment of an FBiH Land Agency considered as an option for dealing with the issues of concessions, management rights, selling, leasing and the like?

Change of use and protection of agricultural land

Is it in the interest of municipalities to protect land or not? How to increase the awareness of decision makers, especially in the non-governmental sector about the application of Law on agricultural land, theory and practice, in general. Can the eventual adoption of land protection law sublimate and resolve all land issues in one place? Is it more advisable for the law on land protection to be implemented by the Ministry of the Environment rather than the Ministry of Agriculture?

Map of land use and its significance for spatial planning

Should the Institute for Agropedology have a regulatory function given that these are fundamental documents from the viewpoint of spatial planning, agricultural and rural development? How to provide a single methodology for developing this map in the Federation of BiH?

Application of good practices on the regulation of degraded land

How can we use the tools for better decision-making in land use planning and sustainable use of natural resources?

Experiences in land consolidation

Pilot area in the municipality of Ravno. Organizational, technical, legal, social, economic and developmental aspects of land consolidation in the municipality. What are the problems encountered by the municipality during the implementation of the land consolidation project? Does the law allow the implementation of the project in its full capacity? What are the necessary supporting measures and mechanisms? How is agricultural land addressed in various legal regulations and supporting documents (ordinances)? What are the differences between FBiH and cantonal levels regarding this issue?

Presentations from the round table discussion (in Bosnian):

Two demonstrations sites: cultivation of blueberries on infertile/degraded soils using plant pots on mine disposal site in Zivinice and fishbone as a SLM technology against erosion in Banovici were established.

For more information visit SLM practices from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the WOCAT database.

Cultivation of blueberries on infertile/degraded soils using plant pots

Location of demonstration site for fishbone technology

A training on ploughing on counter lines was organized for more than twenty farmers in Srebrenik municipality (Tuzla Canton).

Wrong way of parcel cultivation

Ploughing on contour lines

Training with Prof. Custovic

Project team visiting new land consolidation area

Special attention was given to project visibility. Project was promoted in most popular newspapers and TV stations in the country. For more information please visit the links below.

Daily newspaper “Oslobodjenje”

Prof. Custovic interview at N1 TV

This module represents a first step towards the creation of an operational Strategy needed for mainstreaming SLM into the legislative framework, and decision-making processes at all levels. Different perceptions and approaches depending on decision making levels were discussed, existing barriers and obstacles identified, and a base for a Strategy  created.

The Operational Strategy and Action Plan for the Republic of Srpska will be used as a base for the development of a Strategy on Land protection in the Republic of Srpska.

The creation of the SLM Operational Strategy of the Republic of Srpska used a participatory approach with wide involvement of stakeholders. During the preparatory phase numerous stakeholders were consulted (through field visits and meetings), and by email communication.

National Steering Committee established:

1. Mr. Ljubisa Lalovic, Ministry of Foreign trade and Economic relation of BiH
2. Dr Zoran Maletic, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Srpska entity (RS)
3. Mr. Besco Alibegovic, Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry of the Federation of BiH entity

Inception workshop for the Republic of Srpska, January 30, 2018 in Teslic, Republic of Srpska, with active involvement of key governmental institutions:

1. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Srpska;
2. Ministry of Spatial Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology of the Republic of Srpska;
3. Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining of the Republic of Srpska;

Local Stakeholder workshops on SLM Delivery Building Capacities, including important and beneficial SLM opportunities for delivery in pilot areas: Trebinje,  Šamac and Pelagicevo, with  active involvement of local governments and stakeholders in targeted pilot areas in Republic of Srpska:

1. Trebinje
2. Samac
   
3. Pelagicevo

Overview of existing relevant land resource databases and documents:  

• LDN report BiH and UNCCD AP BIH (NAP BIH)
• SOTER - Global Soil and Terrain Database
• Various national and regional overviews of agricultural production statistics

Comprehensive analysis of land cover status of the Republic of Srpska, according to national LC classes was done, where existing national information was compared with CORINE LC and Global datasets under LDN TSP process. Estimation of socio-economic status, pressures and drivers of LD, intensity and severity of land degradation and dominant land use systems was the first step in LD assessment, and was compared to existing national priorities in terms of land degraded areas and land protection.

Active partnership was established among local communities, entity institutions and public enterprises to identify existing policy instruments, main LUS and LMS under administrative boundaries, needs and gaps at national and local levels needed for SLM mainstreaming. Land cover was assessed and priority pilot areas were identified as follows:

• Pelagićevo Municipality
• Šamac Municipality
• Trebinje Municipality

Structure of Land cover and Land cover change was estimated using CORINE LC database and global database under LDN TSP.

Land cover (2010, ESA)

Land degradation hot spots (ESA)

Spatial representation of dominant soil types in RS by SOTER units (Agricultural Institute of RS)

Site selection criteria:

1. Areas that are priority for Government of RS and  strategic framework
2.  Severity of land degradation
3. Areas of intensive agriculture production
4. Number of farmers (women) dependent on the area
5. Possibility to exchange knowledge with other local communities
6. Readiness of local governments to cooperate and support activities
7. Public agricultural/forest land under Entity ownership
8. Active participation of local stakeholders in capacity building
9. Willingness of local stakeholders to participate in trainings, educations, site visits
10. Areas endangered by the most important land degradation drivers like floods, drought and wildfires
11. Ecologically vulnerable areas, specifically karst, flood and drought affected regions

Demonstration sites for testing and disseminating SLM practices selected in RS entity were: municipalities of Pelagićevo, Šamac, and Trebinje.

Drought in Pelagicevo area (SRNA 2015)

SLM irrigation measure - Pelagicevo municipality (Markovic M. 2017)

The catastrophic flood in May 2014 has left terrible consequences on the Municipality of Samac.

The conceptual solution of the embankment for the protection of the municipality of Samac from flooding.

Bare land in Trebinje area (Kapovic Solomun, M. 2017)

SLM afforestation on gradones in 1960s

SLM afforestation measure in karst region - bare land (Kapovic Solomun, M. 2017)

Intensive agriculture in karst fields in Trebinje area (Kapovic Solomun, M. 2017)

Legislative framework, strategies and documents at state, entity and local level were identified and analysed with the purpose to define gaps and barriers in implementation of  SLM measures and needs, possibilities and further steps needed for their application.

Local stakeholder workshops on SLM Capacity Building, including important and beneficial SLM opportunities for delivery, were conducted in 2018 in three pilot areas (Pelagićevo, Šamac and Trebinje).

WOCAT SLM questionnaires were translated (guidelines and instruction for questionnaires) and used in local stakeholder workshops.

Selected SLM best practices were assessed and documented on the ground (using QT and QA) by a team of trained SLM experts and local stakeholders.

Project core team from RS  tried hard to gather key national, regional and local stakeholders for mainstreaming SLM into national and territorial planning processes, strategies, programs, projects, incentive and financing mechanisms, microfinance mechanisms.

For the four municipalities (Banjaluka, Laktasi, Gradiska and Samac) strategic documents were developed called "The Basis for Agricultural Land Protection, Use and Restructuring" as the component of the land use planning process.

The Basis for Agricultural Land Protection, Use and Restructuring of municipality Banja Luka (Markovic, M.)

In the municipality Pelagićevo (Posavina Region) on the fields of the agricultural firm "Napredak", the SLM technology irrigation was conducted. The first phase of the subproject "Rehabilitation of irrigation systems" is finished, co-financed by World Bank, International Development Association-IDA and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Republic of Srpska in accordance with Co-financing amount confirmed at Letter of endorsement. Purchase of one lateral move sprinkler system by PD "Napredak" was made in the second phase. Intensive irrigation was carried out on about 40% of the area (80 ha). On irrigated areas, yields were higher by 35-40% of the yields on irrigated areas (8.1 t/ha, compared to 5.8 t/ha).

In the municipality Šamac flood protection measures were implemented.

Arranging riverbed of Bosnia river  and  construction of defence embankments, rehabilitation and extension of canal drainage network channels (Tinja – Tolisa, Kladik, Eginovac, Brvnik, Kosnice, Grebnice) and arrangement of the natural watercourses is  successively carried out in accordance with the predicted dynamics and the inflow of funds.

Bare land is wide spread in the south part of the Republic of Srpska, Herzegovina region which is targeted as a very vulnerable area, that is suffering from frequent drought, scarce vegetation cover, karst, frequent wildfires and consequently bare land expansion. Introduction of SLM trough afforestation of bare land served as important step forward for:

• awareness raising among local stakeholders about importance of vegetation cover and preservation from wildfires; and
  
• active inclusion of local communities in SLM on karst, gathering decision makers of forestry sector.

Drawing attention of Trebinje (pilot spot) and Herzegovina region as a “hot spot” recognized by LDN process, in order to stress out necessity of additional funds for afforestation on karst, developing specific technique and approach to improve current low success. 

Existing sustainable forest management practices and SLM for karst area:

• Afforestation by planting in areas suitable for afforestation
• Re-afforestation of areas with low success of previous afforestation
• Melioration of forest plantations
• 
  

SLM technology used in the project:

Afforestation on karst (bare land), seedlings type: Pinus nigra, Pinus halepensis, Robinia pseudoacacia, density of planting: 1150 seedlings per ha.

Description:

• Preparation of soil for planting is done by digging a hole (50 x 50 x 50 cm) in all favourable places (cca 1150-1400 places/ha).
• The excavated rocks are placed as a sub-base on the underside of the hole. Main function of this SLM technology is to reduce soil erosion on steep slopes due to precipitation intensity.
• The most favourable time for planting is October and November.
• Fertilization has been used together with planting process.
• Seedlings are protected from animals, plant diseases and pests.

Afforestation on karst (bare land) (Kapovic Solomun, M. 2017)

Successful example of afforested bare land (Kapovic Solomun, M. 2017)

Scaling out

In the second phase of the project, a public call for selection of 3 new locations for scaling out irrigation was published:

• municipality Bratunac 436 ha
• municipality Ljubinje 280 ha
• municipality Laktasi location Maglajani 160 ha

In addition to that, according to the plan of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Republic of Srpska to build up a river channel Osorna-Borna-Lijevcanica for irrigation of 14000 ha, a  technical documentation for construction was prepared.

Also, afforestation on karst and bare land was scaled out on 373 ha in the Republic of Srpska (on 76 micro locations; 750.000 seedlings afforested; Amount of 1.475.855 KM (2016 and 2017) invested.

Scaling out other SLM technologies on the territory of Republic of Srpska in 2017:

• Soil amelioration for natural forest regeneration on 275 ha;
• Afforestation by planting seedlings on 232 ha;
• Control weeds and disposal of undesirable forest species on 232 ha;
• Melioration of the coppice forests on about 120 ha.

The WOCAT database was consulted and a number of relevant approaches and techniques were identified from different regions and with different names.

We use those demonstration sites for measuring effects and as a good basis for scaling out SLM techniques and tools in another municipalities and local communities of RS as well as BIH (e.g. irrigation at Bratunac, Ljubinje and Laktaši municipalities, flood protection in Bijeljina and Doboj municipalities and some others) as well as for investments in reforestation, prevention and protection from forest fire in Herzegovina region.

Data on best SLM practices in the Republic of Srpska are gathered and the process of uploading to the global decision support system is ongoing.

Promotional materials on SLM best practices are created and distributed to workshops participants and decision makers.

Promotion of project activities through the media in the RS and social networks, websites of relevant institutions and local communities.

Promotion of DS-SLm project activities in Herzegovina area.

See: www.herceg.tv

Promotional activities in the kindergarden (Kapovic Solomun, M. 2017)

The slogan used: STOP LAND DEGRADATION