Way more than trees.
fea is launching a five-year fundraising campaign to increase its program capacity, titled “WAY MORE THAN TREES - Forestry and Environmental Action creating a more sustainable future for forests and people in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. Our five-year fundraising campaign will grow our capacity and deepen our ability to deliver high-impact, lasting results.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is one of the most forested countries in Europe with very rich diversity of forest types and significant presence of virgin forest.
The forests cover 63% of BiH’s territory and protect exceptional biodiversity of forest ecosystems.
The forest resources are one of the most important natural resources for/in BiH from the following aspects:
the state economy: after 1995, the forestry sector has had an irreplaceable role in post-war reconstruction, rehabilitation, and the economic stability of the country and remains very important for the state economy. In 2018, a total of 4,686 people were employed in the forestry sector in the Federation BiH (FBIH). In 2017, the forestry sector, together with agriculture and fishing, accounted for 5.61% of GDP in BiH (there are no segregated data for forestry sector only)
the local communities: together with the wood-processing industry and agriculture, forestry plays a key role in the development and well-being of most rural areas;more than 50% of the BIH population lives in rural areas and relies in one way or another on forest and mountain ecosystems as an important source of subsistence, employment, energy, and recreation;
the general public: forests play a key role in a range of ecosystem services, resources and benefits for the whole of society, such as: maintaining biodiversity, regulating water and land regimes, mitigating the effects of climate change and carbon sequestration (C), producing oxygen etc.
Our case towards our partners (donors, organizations, governments, local authorities, private companies, public-private entities etc.) is that fea promotes responsible forest management for socio-economic development and improved environment among rural communities.
Private forest representation in BiH is significant (one fifth of the forest area is private) and there is a vast number of private forest owners (PFOs) in BiH (every sixth inhabitant is a private forest owner); therefore, the issue of more effective management of private forests is not negligible!
Find out more about what we can accomplish together in our brochure.
Guiding force and strong voice.
Key issues of private forestry sector are:
1.
absence of an umbrella forest law at FBiH level and the fact that both the draft of the new law and cantonal laws on forests do not treat public/ state and private forest property equally and fairly, at the expense of Private Forest Owners (PFOs),
2.
a lack of involvement and cooperation between stakeholders in forest- related planning processes across the sector, thus PFOs are not part of either public policy planning or management plans development,
3.
state of private forests is not as good as state of public forests (taking into consideration parameters as stock, increment etc.); Public forests are more profitable and under systematic forest management while private forests are not sustainable managed, overexploited or completely left behind by PFOs,
4.
PFOs do not have a structure they can rely on, nor a place where they can access the knowledge, networks, information and tools to manage private forests more efficiently and effectively,
5.
PFOs are not able to come into contact with the wood processing industry and have limited access to the market, which affects the price they achieve / their profits or livelihood,
6.
uniform use of private forests - only timber is recognized as an economically valuable forest product, whereas other functions of the forest (ecological, sociological) and the possibilities of generating economic profit using non-timber forest products, ecotourism, hunting, etc. have been neglected. Most forest owners who use their forests use it for firewood, while only 20% is market oriented.
Why support fea?
We have motive and the energy for change
Our team consists of young, educated and ambitious people (predominantly women) who have the motive and the energy to change their environment and fight injustice and poverty
We are strongly commited to SDGs
We are strongly committed to contributing in achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through our work
We have a history of successful projects
We have a history of successful projects and experience of working with people, both the private and civil sectors and decision-makers especially in the area of forestry and land management
We are able to recognize key problems
We are able to recognize key problems and the obstacles to development in our country/region and to find possible solutions
We believe in the principles of democracy
We believe in the principles of democracy and are aware of the role and importance of civil society organisations (CSOs)
We embraced principles of sustainable development
We embraced principles of sustainable development and sustainable natural resource management
Here we are...
Forestry and environmental action - fea, an organization that would like to help build societies that responsibly manage their natural resources...