Nearly 150 people gathered on Saturday morning at the entrance to Bois de Naniot, a small woodland on the heights of Liège, to demand that its footpaths remain open as the city pursues a challenge before the Court of Cassation against a ruling in favour of the landowner.
The woodland has been at the centre of a long-running dispute between local residents, supported by the City of Liège, and the owner of the site.
Residents have for years called for several paths through the wood to remain accessible, saying they are used by locals to reach bus stops and shops.
The owner, however, moved to close access after a court decision backed his position, arguing in particular that he wanted to enhance the value of the plot.
The City of Liège and local residents had sought legal recognition for the paths as public rights of way, which would have guaranteed permanent access regardless of the owner’s wishes.
However, the court of first instance rejected that claim following a hearing held in November 2025.
Public authorities are now contesting that decision by taking the case to the Court of Cassation, while a residents’ collective is continuing its campaign to preserve access to the woodland.
“We were more than 150 people gathered on Saturday at the entrance to demand that access to the wood and its paths be preserved,” the Bois de Naniot collective said.
“Since our defeat on appeal, new and far more urgent issues have emerged: our summers are increasingly marked by more frequent and more intense heatwaves.
“Protecting the city’s last green spaces is no longer an aesthetic issue, but a matter of survival and adaptation in the face of climate change.”
