Sustainable Tourism in the Protected Areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Example of the Nature Monument "Vrelo Bosne"

Abstract

The hot springs of the Bosna River represent a wide fault zone in which where six larger and several smaller karst springs can be found. The catchment area of the Bosna springs are presented by the mountainous massifs of Igman and Bjelašnica, which are built primarily from thick limestone deposits. At the foot of these massifs, in contact with the Sarajevo field which represents the hydrogeological barrier, the specific hot spring zone is formed. Water in this area occurs in the shape of hot springs, surface watercourses and underground thermal mineral waters. The Bosna hot springs have been under protection since 2006 when it was pronounced the monument of nature "Vrelo Bosne". The monument of nature is located in the Sarajevo Canton and it is under the protection of "PI Protected Natural Areas of the Sarajevo Canton" and it covers an area of 603 ha. The hot springs of the Bosna river is not the only monument of nature that's under protection of the canton, there are other protected monuments of nature like the "Skakavac" waterfall and the three protected landscapes: "Bijambare", "Trebević" and "Bentbaša". This area is also the main drinkable water resource for the city of Sarajevo (Bačevo water source) and it is a famous excursion site. Since 2014, entrance to the protected area has been charged and about 139,000 visitors were recorded in that same year. Since then, the number of visitors has been rapidly increasing and in 2016 there were over 190,000 visitors registered. The exploration area meets all planned goals of protection and sustainable development of protected areas in Sarajevo Canton and it represents an extremely positive example of sustainable tourism in protected areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina.