Stolac clean-up activity6 June 2011 - Hundreds of citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina joined together to celebrate World Environment Day on June5th. To mark this occasion, United Nations agencies, ministries, municipalities, towns, schools and non-governmental organizations around the country organized clean-ups of parks, squares, school yards and picnic areas, as well as exhibitions and various cultural events.

In northern town of Bihac, citizens and members of the NGO Emeralds of Una (River) engaged in a clean-up activity organized by the Municipality and UNDP under the slogan “Think Green, Make Clean”. All those who joined were given clean-up kits prepared by the UNDP. Under the same slogan, World Environment Day 2011 was also marked in the southern municipality of Stolac which organized a clean-up of a local river bank and water level that involved numerous volunteers, members of local fishing society and staff of the local utility company. In area of about half square kilometer, citizens collected garbage, cleared away mud piled during the floods and took out other debris, transporting it all later to the town’s waste disposal site.

Citizens clean up Modrac Lake (photo: Tuzla-x.ba)In Sarajevo, United Nations Volunteers joined UN staff and a small group of citizens in cleaning up two kids parks located in Sarajevo’s most popular walking area, the Vilsonovo Alley. At the same time, a local Association for Development and Affirmation of Society (BNL) held an environmental  competition at the city’s main square. This event successfully mobilized a large number of participants in gathering discarded plastic bottles and plastic bags.

The Centre for Ecology and Energy in the northeastern town of Tuzla conducted a spring clean-up project at nearby Modrac Lake. This project was further supported by contributions of members of local community and the Scout Association ‘Duga’,  Within several hours, they had collected a dozen of bags of waste dispersed around the lake area, built four tables and benches and mounted notice boards appealing to citizens to preserve cleanliness nature of this tourist destination.

The Scouts in Trebinje celebrated the World Environment Day by cleaning up parks, the Trebisnjica river bank and forests surrounding this town -located in the south of BiH. In addition, children from local kindergardens prepared a cultural event focusing on the necessity to adequately dispose waste. In the culture centre of Pale municipality (east of Sarajevo), youth prepared an ecology-focused performance under the slogan of “Wake Up World”. This event was attended by young ecologists from local primary schools, children from kindergardens and volunteer-based “Sunce” Association for children with special needs.

Celebration of WED in Banja LukaWorld Environment Day was also marked in Banja Luka. At the main city’s square, a large number of children from four primary schools presented essays and drawings on a topic “Imagine that You are a Tree in Forest” to gathered citizens.

In Srebrenica, WED 2011 was celebrated on 3 June as a part of the UNDP project ‘Biomass energy for employment and energy security’. In cooperation with the NGO “Centar za razvoj i podrsku” and teachers and students from elementary and high schools from Bratunac, Srebrenica and Milići, UNDP organized a school exhibition and competition under the banner of “We know how to preserve climate”. The event aimed to raise awareness of the wider public in Srebrenica region about climate change and renewable energy sources – especially the benefits that could be achieved by using renewable energy sources - by presenting children’s creative and motivating ideas and artwork.