Esch, SICONA Launch Partnership to Strengthen Nature Conservation

On Tuesday 21 July 2026, the City of Esch-sur-Alzette and the intermunicipal nature conservation syndicate SICONA signed a cooperation agreement at Esch City Hall to strengthen joint nature conservation projects and public awareness initiatives across the municipality.

Christian Weis, Mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette, welcomed representatives of SICONA to Esch City Hall, where he was joined by Meris Sehovic, Alderman of the City of Esch-sur-Alzette, Marc Bissen, President of SICONA Sud-Ouest, and Fernand Klopp, Director of SICONA. They introduced the new partnership and outlined the projects it will support over the coming years.

Christian Weis described the agreement as an important step towards strengthening cooperation between the city and SICONA. He said the partnership would support concrete environmental projects while bringing together the municipality's local knowledge and SICONA's expertise in nature conservation. The mayor also thanked SICONA for the longstanding cooperation between the organisations and expressed confidence that the partnership would continue to grow.

According to SICONA, the partnership will focus on a range of nature conservation projects and public awareness initiatives. These include the "Natur genéissen" programme, which promotes biodiversity-friendly farming while connecting local producers and consumers through the sale and processing of local products at municipal relay centres. In comments to Chronicle.lu, Marc Bissen said the initiative would also introduce children attending Maison Relais to local food production: "We can help the City of Esch promote local, regional and organic producers who provide food for the children, while also creating a pedagogical aspect through visits to the producers and discussions about where the food comes from."

The partnership will also support projects to protect urban wildlife, including birds nesting on buildings such as swallows, as well as initiatives to raise public awareness of biodiversity and environmental protection: "We are going to work on awareness itself – what people can do and how we can help grow this mentality about protecting our nature together with the Ville d’Esch."

Other initiatives covered by the agreement include "Aktioun Päiperlek" and "Wëllplanzesom Lëtzebuerg", which promote pollinators through the creation and maintenance of natural green spaces using pesticide-free native plants and wildflower seeds.

Marc Bissen also highlighted Luxembourg's intermunicipal approach to nature conservation, describing cooperation between municipalities as one of the country's strengths. He noted that SICONA is financed by its member municipalities and currently brings together 44 member municipalities: "This model works very well in Luxembourg. We do concrete protection of nature in the communes and everybody has this win-win-win situation.”