In June 1998, Valbois Ressources Naturelles and the municipal officials of Libin, Vielsalm, Saint-Vith and Bütgenbach inaugurated, as part of a pilot project, the first tours of The Wood Routes that criss-cross these 4 municipalities.

With the wealth from this positive experience, Wallonia, in close cooperation with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, decided to extend “The Wood Routes”project throughout Wallonia and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Traced to last, these “The Wood Routes” were officially launched in October 2005 in Wallonia and in November 2005 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

This new project falls under the European programmes Interreg IIIA “Eurowood” (2003) and Interreg IIIB ENO «Proholz-Probois» [Pro-wood] (2004), with the support of the General Office of Tourism (known by the French initials “CGT” which stand for “Commissariat Général au Tourisme”) in Wallonia, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Sustainable Development in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

In concrete terms, ‘The Wood Routes’ are designed and managed, in Wallonia, by Valbois RN asbl, which is in charge in particular of the development of the forestry-wood sector, and by the Water and Forestry Authority (known by the French acronym “AEF” which stands for “Administration des Eaux and Forêts”)of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (AEF)in Luxembourg.

The project is intended as a tourist concept for a wide public (schools, senior citizens, the general public, continuing education movements, potential builders, etc.), so as to raise the awareness of these people about the forest and the wood-based industries in all their facets. To this end, the public will be able to go tour The Wood Routes through 5 themes.

We should add that this rationale extends to other border regions that have accepted to be our partners in this operation: Lorraine, la Champagne-Ardenne, Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Rhineland-Palatinate.