THE UNA RIVER IS PART OF IDENTITY

NOVI GRAD, MAY 17 /SRNA/ - The Una River is much more than a natural resource; it is part of identity, connecting people and providing opportunities for tourism and agriculture, and any threat to this area causes justified concern, the Green Team Association from Novi Grad said on the occasion of River Day, May 17.

The association’s secretary, Mladen Trninić, said that while there is increasing talk about protecting the Una and its basin, the area is also facing numerous pressures. He pointed to plans to store radioactive and other hazardous waste near the river at Trgovska Gora, as well as to pollution and uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources. “These are all things that remind us that nature is not an inexhaustible resource, and that what we lose today we may never be able to restore,” Trninić explained. He said that the Una River is part of the life of the people of this region, but also something that will continue to shape the future of the area. “We grow up, we work, we build families, and we plan our future with it. That is why it is important that today, in addition to repeatedly speaking about its beauty, we also talk about the responsibility we have toward it,” Trninić said. He emphasized that the Una River connects people and towns on both sides of the border, sustains the region, and provides opportunities for tourism, agriculture, sports, and a healthy way of life. For this reason, any serious threat to this area causes justified concern among citizens who live there and who want their children to grow up alongside a clean and healthy river, rather than with a constant sense of uncertainty. On River Una Day, it is important to remember that protecting nature is not only the responsibility of institutions and organizations. “That is the responsibility of all of us. The way we treat the river today shows what kind of relationship we have with the space in which we live and with the generations that come after us,” Trninić said. The total length of the Una River is 212.5 kilometers. It starts near the settlements of Donja Suvaja and Donji Lapac, below the slopes of the Plješevica and Stražbenica mountains in Croatia, in the Lika region, and flows into the Sava River near Jasenovac, into which it annually delivers nearly eight billion cubic meters of water. The source of the Una River is located at an altitude of around 450 meters and resembles a miniature lake of greenish-blue color, surrounded by large limestone cliffs. The Una flows through Martin Brod, Kulen Vakuf, Ripač, Bihać, Bosanska Krupa, Bosanska Otoka, Novi Grad, Kostajnica, Kozarska Dubica, and flows into the Sava River near Jasenovac. The Una River hosts 28 species of fish, with some weighing up to 30 kilograms. Nearly two hundred species of medicinal plants grow along the river, and one rare plant, the Unska zvončica, is named after the Una River itself. The exceptional purity of the Una was confirmed by the “White Flag,” an award granted to it on September 11, 2013, by the organization “Global Underwater Awareness Association,” which cleans and protects oceans, lakes, and rivers worldwide and is part of the largest international network of divers and water resource conservationists.