The Wadden Sea *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	Netherlands, Germany and Denmark
Type	Natural
Criteria	viii, ix, x
Reference	1314
Region **	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	2009 (33rd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

The Wadden Sea (Dutch: Waddenzee, German: Wattenmeer, Low German: Wattensee or Waddenzee, Danish: Vadehavet, West Frisian: Waadsee) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It is rich in biological diversity. In 2009, the Dutch and German parts of the Wadden Sea were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.^[1]

According to C. Michael Hogan, the Wadden Sea is one of the world's seas whose coastline has been most modified by humans,^[2] via systems of dikes and causeways on the mainland and low lying coastal islands. The Wadden Sea stretches from Den Helder in the Netherlands in the southwest, past the great river estuaries of Germany to its northern boundary at Skallingen north of Esbjerg in Denmark along a total length of some 500 km and a total area of about 10,000 km². Within the Netherlands it is bounded from the IJsselmeer by the Afsluitdijk.

The islands in the Wadden Sea are called the Wadden Sea Islands or Frisian Islands, named after the Frisians. However, on the westernmost Dutch island, Texel, the Frisian language has not been spoken for centuries. The Danish Wadden Sea Islands have never been inhabited by Frisians. The outlying German island of Heligoland, although ethnically one of the Frisian Islands, is not situated in the Wadden Sea.

The German part of the Wadden Sea was the setting for the 1903 Erskine Childers novel The Riddle of the Sands.

  Nature

  Salt marsh and mudflats in Westerhever, Germany

  The mudflats of the Pilsumer Watt near Greetsiel, Germany

The word wad is Dutch for "mud flat" (Low German and German: Watt, Danish: Vade). The area is typified by extensive tidal mud flats, deeper tidal trenches (tidal creeks) and the islands that are contained within this, a region continually contested by land and sea. The landscape has been formed for a great part by storm tides in the 10th to 14th centuries, overflowing and carrying away former peat land behind the coastal dunes. The present islands are a remnant of the former coastal dunes.

The islands are marked by dunes and wide, sandy beaches towards the North Sea and a low, tidal coast towards the Wadden Sea. The impact of waves and currents, carrying away sediments, is slowly changing the layout of the islands. For example, the islands of Vlieland and Ameland have moved eastwards through the centuries, having lost land on one side and grown on the other.

The Wadden Sea is famous for its rich flora and fauna, especially birds. Hundred of thousands of waders (shorebirds), ducks, and geese use the area as a migration stopover or wintering site, and it is also rich habitat for gulls and terns.^[3]

  Common Seals on Terschelling, Netherlands

Each of three countries has designated Ramsar sites in the region (see Wadden Sea National Parks for the protected areas within the German borders). Although the Wadden Sea is not yet listed as a transboundary Ramsar site, a great part of the Wadden Sea is protected in cooperation of all three countries. The governments of the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have been working together since 1978 on the protection and conservation of the Wadden Sea. Co-operation covers management, monitoring and research, as well as political matters. Furthermore, in 1982, a Joint Declaration on the Protection of the Wadden Sea was agreed upon to co-ordinate activities and measures for the protection of the Wadden Sea. In 1997, a Trilateral Wadden Sea Plan was adopted.^[4]

In June 2009, the Wadden Sea (comprising the Dutch Wadden Sea Conservation Area and the German Wadden Sea National Parks of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) was placed on the World Heritage list by UNESCO.^[5]

  Recreation

  People on the beach on Borkum, Germany

  Mudflat hiking near Pieterburen, Netherlands

Many of the islands have been popular seaside resorts since the 19th century.

Mudflat hiking (Dutch: Wadlopen, German: Wattwandern), i.e., walking on the sandy flats at low tide, has become popular in the Wadden Sea.

It is also a popular region for pleasure boating.

  See also

• Wadden Sea National Parks
• Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park
• Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park
• Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park
• Wadden Sea National Park (Denmark)

  References

  External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wadden Sea

• Vollmer, M.; Gulberg, Maluck, Marrewijk (2001). "Landscape and Cultural Heritage in the Wadden Sea Region - Project Report". Wadden Sea Ecosystem 12. http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/lancewad/report.html. 
• Knottnerus, Otto S. (2005). "History of human settlement, cultural change and interference with the marine environment". http://www.xs4all.nl/~ottoknot/werk/Sylt.html. 
• Secretariat of The Trilateral Cooperation on the Protection of the Wadden Sea
• Official Tourist Information for the Northernmost part of the National Park: The Danish Wadden Sea
• The Wadden Sea at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre
• Wadden Sea World Heritage
• Association of the Wadden Sea Island Municipalities in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany

Frisian Islands West Frisian Islands Noorderhaaks · Texel · Vlieland · Richel · Terschelling · Griend · Ameland · Rif · Engelsmanplaat · Schiermonnikoog · Simonszand · Rottumerplaat · Rottumeroog · Zuiderduintjes East Frisian Islands Borkum · Lütje Hörn · Kachelotplate · Memmert · Juist · Norderney · Baltrum · Langeoog · Spiekeroog · Wangerooge · Minsener-Oldoog · Mellum Heligoland Bight Langlütjen I & II · Großer Knechtsand · Heligoland · Düne · Neuwerk · Scharhörn · Nigehörn · Trischen · Tertius · Blauort North Frisian Islands (Germany) Pellworm · Amrum · Föhr · Sylt · Uthörn · Halligen: Gröde · Habel · Hamburger Hallig · Hooge · Langeneß · Norderoog · Nordstrandischmoor · Oland · Süderoog · Südfall Former islands Hainshallig · Nordstrand · Strand Danish Wadden Sea Islands Rømø · Koresand · Fanø · Halligen: Jordsand · Langli · Mandø

World Heritage Sites in Germany Northern Fagus Factory in Alfeld · Berlin Modernism Housing Estates · Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin · Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin · Bremen: Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace · Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System · Hildesheim: St. Mary's Cathedral and St. Michael's Church · Hanseatic City of Lübeck · Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar · The Wadden Sea1 · Ancient Beech Forests2 Central Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar and Dessau · Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz · Dresden Elbe Valley (delisted in 2009) · Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg · Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski3 · Collegiate Church, Castle, and Old Town of Quedlinburg · Wartburg Castle · Classical Weimar Western Aachen Cathedral · Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Brühl · Cologne Cathedral · Messel Pit Fossil Site · Upper Middle Rhine Valley · Speyer Cathedral · Trier: Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady · Völklingen Ironworks · Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen Southern Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch · Town of Bamberg · Frontiers of the Roman Empire:4 Upper Germanic & Rhaetian Limes · Maulbronn Monastery Complex · Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof · Monastic Island of Reichenau · Pilgrimage Church of Wies · Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square  · Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps5 1 Shared with the Netherlands · 2 Shared with Slovakia and Ukraine  · 3 Shared with Poland · 4 Shared with the United Kingdom  · 5 Shared with Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland

World Heritage Sites in the Netherlands North D.F. Wouda Steam Pumping Station · Wadden Sea1 East Schokland and Surroundings West Beemster Polder · Canals of Amsterdam · Defence Line of Amsterdam · Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout · Rietveld Schröder House · Wadden Sea1 Curaçao Historic Area of Willemstad 1 Shared locally with other region/s and with Germany

Biosphere reserves in Germany Middle Elbe Vesser Valley Thuringian Forest Bavarian Forest Berchtesgarden Alps Wadden Sea Schorfheide-Chorin Spreewald Rügen Rhön Mountains Upper Lusatia Palatinate Forest Schalsee

Coordinates: 53°32′N 6°53′E / 53.533°N 6.883°E / 53.533; 6.883