Ambassador Sorensen and Minister Novic launched digital orthophoto maps of BiH

On 2nd July, the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH/EU, Special Representative Ambassador Peter Sorensen, and BiH Minister of Civil Affairs, Sredoje Novic, officially launched the new digital orthophoto maps of BiH at the final conference of the EU funded project “Spatial information services for BiH – phase two – Digital orthophoto maps”.

The creation of orthophoto maps and aerial images with state-of-the-art equipment through this project has resulted in us now possessing a complete and functional overview of the entire country. These 3D maps will be used for various administrative activities, such as urban planning, rural development, agricultural planning, land administration, foreign investment promotion, municipal administration, transport infrastructure, real-estate market, forest management, environmental protection, demining, tourism development and statistics.

Ambassador Sorensen stressed that the maps will make a real difference for the citizens of BiH. He emphasised that the maps have already proved to be of great assistance during the unprecedented floods in BiH. In addition, the maps were crucial in the population and housing census conducted in BiH in October 2013. They are also relevant for demining activities enabling faster and more accurate identification of mine suspected areas and for developing base maps for easier and safer field work.

“During the course of this project, the entire territory of 51,129 sq km of the country was covered with 29,300 aerial photographs. Two aeroplanes flew over 74 sorties and 260 hours altogether,“ the Ambassador said.

The event was also attended by the Zeljko Obradovic, Director of the Federal Administration for Geodetic and Property Affairs, Milos Komljenovic, Acting Director of RS Administration for Geodetic and Property Affairs, Sinisa Milic, representative of the Government of the Brcko District BiH, and representative of the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers.

BiH Minister of Civil Affairs, Sredoje Novic, thanked the EU for funding and managing the implementation of this important project. The project was coordinated by the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs and implemented in cooperation with the FBiH and RS Administrations for Geodetic and Real Property Affairs and the Department of Public Records of the Brcko District BiH Government. The project was funded by the EU through IPA 2008 at a value of 2,456,000 Euro and implemented by the company Geofoto from Zagreb.

The Project had two phases. In the first phase, the EU funded project (IPA 2007) „Establishing of a Network of permanent (referent) GPS stations – BiHPOS“ created the preconditions for accurate measurement and land parcelling.

Read the full speech by Ambassador Sorensen here
See the presentations:
Technical implementation:
Use of digital orthophoto plans:

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