OACM stands for Ocean Alliance and Plastic Elimination for Tourism Beaches. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a European country on the Balkan Peninsula. Its countryside is home to medieval villages, rivers and lakes, and the craggy Dinaric Alps. The national capital, Sarajevo, has a well-preserved old quarter, Baščaršija, with landmarks like the 16th-century Gazi Husrev-bey Mosque. Ottoman-era Latin Bridge is the site of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, which ignited World War I.
Bosnia and Herzegovina only has a 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) coastline and is located around the town of Neum in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, a small region sandwiched in between Croatia on the Adriatic shores.
The country is a jewel regarding tourism opportunities, and its government understands and acts to maintain this balance of tourism property in protecting the environment.
Plastic elimination on its coastlines, rivers, and streams seems to have made a big impact after Bosnia and Herzegovina Federal Minister of Environment and Tourism Nasiha Pozder met with Nedžad Alic, the Ocean Alliance Group (OACM) president, to establish a unique and winning partnership.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has over 100 lakes, streams, and national parks in its most beautiful places. Pollution, such as plastic pollution, is also an environmental concern in a country many say is still untouched and clean.
The Hon. Minister Nasiha Prozder, Federal Minister of Tourism and Environment, understands the connection between Environment and Tourism, leading this sector in her country.
The minister said, “Environmental protection is a priority, and we act legislatively and practically on projects and on each to achieve compatible, sustainable development and a healthy environment. I am glad that I could exchange information with Mr. Alic from OACM, a global organization devoted to environmental and Ocean protection.”
With her experience, knowledge, and contacts, Pozder can help us protect water, primarily by reducing plastic’s impact on natural resources. We discussed the possibilities of collaborating and organizing to protect natural resources and be part of global processes in this area,” said Pozder.
For OACM, which operates in a global framework, it is vital that our region, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in some way jointly be co-creators of policies aimed at solving the problem of the immediate danger of climate change and plastic pollution in the world’s seas, rivers and lakes – through long-term sustainable financial tools integrated into corporate and government sectors.
“I am pleased with the openness of Minister Pozder and her desire to work on raising standards, especially ecological ones, to protect the environment. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is ideally position to take a global leadership here,” Alić said.
The meeting concluded with the possibility of cleaning and certifying the water in the country’s rivers and lakes in partnership with the Ocean Alliance. This organization has made a difference in so many parts of the world.
The involvement of authorities at all levels will be necessary to implement such projects successfully.
