Promoting the responsible use of natural resources

The sustainable management of global resources is a key lever for preserving ecosystems, supporting livelihoods and building climate resilience. In addition to projects that have been completed in Burkina Faso and recently launched in Togo, LuxDev promotes the responsible use of natural resources in Costa Rica, Rwanda and Benin.

In Central America, the responsible use of forest resources remains hindered by illegal logging, informality, limited entrepreneurial capacities and weakly structured value chains. The project to support the sustainable management of forests seeks to address these challenges by helping to make forest ecosystems a pillar of inclusive rural development and climate resilience. Its comprehensive approach combines technical assistance for investments under the Luxembourg’s Forestry and Climate Change Fund, support for the development of timber and non-timber forest products value chains, and the strengthening of social inclusion and collaboration among sector stakeholders.

In 2025, the project notably supported the Costa Rican Chamber of Forestry, Wood and Industry in drafting the country’s first National Code for Civil Construction with Wood. This pioneering initiative aims to regulate the use of sustainably sourced wood as a structural material, promote low-carbon construction and strengthen the competitiveness of the forestry and construction sectors, positioning Costa Rica as a regional leader in sustainable construction.
 

The Sustainable forestry and efficient renewable energy for improved livelihood (SFERE) project aims to increase the resilience of forest landscapes and communities in the districts of Rutsiro and Rubavu, in western Rwanda, at a time when soil erosion, rising temperatures and heavy reliance on wood and charcoal for cooking are undermining ecosystems and livelihoods. By combining the restoration of degraded plantations with the promotion of clean cooking solutions, SFERE addresses forest degradation and air quality issues, growing pressure on natural resources and ever-increasing energy demand. The project also engages the private sector and facilitates access to finance for SMEs and cooperatives to stimulate the adoption of sustainable technologies and the creation of resilient value chains.

Breaking with previous approaches that relied on tree planting by service providers, the project places responsibility directly in the hands of local communities to establish and manage their own nurseries. In 2025, it supported their formalisation into cooperatives, trained them in seedling production and built their technical and managerial capacities. These efforts enabled 20 community nurseries to produce around 1 million fruit and forest tree seedlings, over 90% of which survived after being transplanted across some 600 hectares of land at risk of erosion. Beyond the ecological outcomes, this approach has helped to strengthen trust, autonomy and local leadership, particularly among young people and women, and to transform communities from passive beneficiaries into full participants in climate resilience.

When landslides struck Rutsiro district in 2023, Alphonsine, a mother of two and member of the FUWAYE private forest management unit, lost two family members, her house and part of her family's livelihood. For her, joining a cooperative supported by the SFERE project proved to be a turning point. 

Alphonsine and the other members of her cooperative received training in nursery production and management. They now confidently run their own environmental and economic initiatives, no longer relying on external support. 

In Benin, the Delta Mono project promotes the inclusive, sustainable and climate change resilient territorial development of the Mono Biosphere Reserve and the contiguous Avlékété-Bouche du Roy marine protected area. Implemented as part of a Team Europe initiative, it helps to preserve aquatic, terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, while supporting local communities – particularly farmers and fishers – in the transition towards agroecology and more sustainable food systems. Its integrated approach combines sustainable natural resource management, institutional capacity building, the structuring of local supply chains, technical and economic support for producers, and the creation of green economic opportunities.

In 2025, the project enabled the launch of the BIOS MONO label, designed to identify, protect and promote agro-ecological products from the Reserve. Conceived as a tool for structuring local value chains, it is based on ecological criteria and a participatory control mechanism, harmonising farming practices for the key staple crops – rice, market gardening, maize and cassava – and improving the quality and consistency of supply. BIOS MONO now serves as both a benchmark for Delta producers and a reference framework for promoting the Reserve’s products, with potential for expansion at national and sub-regional levels.