DOCSLIB.ORG

The Wadden Sea Forum: the Relevance of Stakeholder Participation for Sustainable Planning

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Wadden Sea Forum: the Relevance of Stakeholder Participation for Sustainable Planning Sustainable Development and Planning II, Vol. 2 1291 The Wadden Sea Forum: the relevance of stakeholder participation for sustainable planning F. De Jong Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Germany Abstract The Wadden Sea is Europe’s largest marine wetland area, bordering the North Sea coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Because of the international importance of the Wadden Sea as a nature area, large parts are protected under national and international laws and associated management schemes. Since 1978 the trilateral cooperation between Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands on the protection of the Wadden Sea has been dealing with the joint protection of the Wadden Sea ecosystem. In the course of the 25 years of cooperation several central elements of integrated management have been agreed upon. It concerns common objectives, a common delimitation and a common management plan for the area. What was still lacking was a structure for public participation. It was felt by the commercial sectors in the area that there was an imbalance between nature protection and social and economic development of the region and that nature protection rules and regulations would hamper socio-economic developments. With the installation in 2002 of an independent platform, the Wadden Sea Region stakeholders were given a better opportunity to present their views on the future of the Region, taking account of ecological, social and economic aspects, in other words, a sustainable development perspective for the Wadden Sea Region. In a three-year period of intensive discussions and negotiations a common approach to sustainable development of the Wadden Sea Region, focusing on the period 2005–2020, has been developed. Keywords: stakeholder participation, ICZM, Wadden Sea, sustainable development, nature conservation, trilateral Wadden Sea cooperation, Wadden Sea Forum, socio-economic perspectives, conflict management. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 84, © 2005 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) 1292 Sustainable Development and Planning II, Vol. 2 1 Introduction The concept of sustainability entered into political parlance when the Brundtland Report was launched in 1987. It defined sustainability as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The content of the concept has changed over the last decade parallel to attempts by many organisations and countries to operationalise and implement the concept. It used to be associated with environmental protection but, nowadays, represents an attempt to balance and integrate economic, social, and environmental concerns. It was primarily a substantial concept, which stated a desired destination (something achieved) but is increasingly seen as a procedural concept: a learning process and rules for how we make decisions (COWI [1]). The concepts of integrated ecosystem management and integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), which emerged in the 1990s, aim at achieving sustainable development perspectives for the ecosystem under consideration and may thus provide guidance for sustainable planning (Christensen et al. [2], Grumbine [3]). This is particularly the case for the recommendation of the EU Council and Parliament on ICZM, in which EU member states are requested to prepare national strategies for ICZM, and to report progress to the Council by 2006 (EC [4]). The ICZM Recommendation provides more clarity about the contents and aims of ICZM and by this, the way to achieve sustainable development. The following principles should be part of ICZM: 1. A broad, holistic approach and strategic planning; 2. A long-term perspective; 3. A long-term process; 4. Reflecting local/regional conditions; 5. Work with natural processes; 6. Participative planning; 7. Involvement of all layers of government; 8. Use a combination of instruments: coherence. Also with regard to the national strategies to be formulated the ICZM Recommendation provides guidance. National strategies must address, amongst others: • National strategic plans for the coast to promote integrated management; • Contractual or voluntary agreements with coastal zone users, including environmental agreements with industry; • Particularly, identify measures to promote bottom-up initiatives and public participation; • Sources of durable financing for integrated coastal zone management initiatives; • Identify mechanisms to ensure full and coordinated implementation and application of Community legislation; • Adequate systems for monitoring and dissemination. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 84, © 2005 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) Sustainable Development and Planning II, Vol. 2 1293 It is obvious that long-term strategic planning, the development of long-term perspectives and the involvement of stakeholders are central elements of ICZM. 2 The trilateral Wadden Sea cooperation Although most national states have no official ICZM strategy, there exist many examples of practices reflecting one or more of the above principles. It is in this respect important to realize that ICZM is a process. This is illustrated very well by the Dutch-German-Danish political cooperation on the protection of the Wadden Sea, in short the trilateral cooperation, which has, since 1978, developed an incorporated several ICZM elements and principles. During the last 25 years the three Wadden Sea countries have been working on the joint protection of the Wadden Sea ecosystem, which is, with some 14,000 km2, Europe's largest coastal marine wetland. The area which is subject to the trilateral cooperation has been defined the "Wadden Sea Area" (see Figure 1). The Wadden Sea Area is characterised by tidal mud flats and shoals, open sea areas, channels and estuaries, barrier islands, dunes and salt marshes and fertile marshlands, the latter mostly lying behind the dykes. It provides a multitude of transitional zones to the land, the sea and the freshwater environment, which is the basis for exceptional species richness. It is a very important breeding area for many species of coastal and meadow birds. With an average of 10 million birds passing through this area, the Wadden Sea Area is one of the world's most important wetlands for migratory waterbirds. The trilateral cooperation on the protection of this ecosystem has been shaped by nine governmental conferences, the first of which was held in 1978 in The Hague, The Netherlands. By 2000 the following ICZM principles and strategy elements were part of the trilateral cooperation: • A common secretariat, facilitating the political cooperation between the Wadden Sea nations; • Coordinated implementation of EU legal and management instruments; • Common objectives and management principles for ecosystem conservation; • A common delimitation of the area (see figure 1: Wadden Sea Area); • Common targets for the ecosystem, the landscape and cultural history; • A common management plan; • A Common monitoring programme. To be added to this list is the fact that the trilateral cooperation has cooperated closely with regional governments, who participate as observer in the trilateral working group (TWG), the body responsible for the implementation of trilateral decisions and the preparation of governmental conferences. Since 2000 also non- governmental organisations have participated as observer in the TWG. There can be no doubt that the trilateral Wadden Sea cooperation has made considerable progress into the direction of a genuine ICZM strategy. From the perspective of the EU principles there are, however, some deficiencies. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 84, © 2005 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) 1294 Sustainable Development and Planning II, Vol. 2 Figure 1: The Wadden Sea Region. First, the emphasis of the trilateral activities is on the Wadden Sea itself, i.e. the tidal area, the islands and the adjacent offshore North Sea (see figure 1: Wadden Sea Area). The integration with the mainland is largely lacking, which can be explained by the fact that the historical roots of the cooperation are about nature conservation of the Wadden Sea ecosystem. Exceptions are the Danish marsh areas on the mainland, which are part of the Wadden Sea Area, as well as the trilateral activities in the field of landscape, and cultural history, which cover substantial parts of the adjacent mainland. A second deficiency is participatory planning. Although, as stated above, non-governmental stakeholders participate as observers, user groups in the area are not involved in the planning and implementation of nature conservation activities that might have an impact on their activities. Already in 1994, at the 7th governmental Wadden Sea Conference, the importance of public awareness and participation was underlined and it was agreed to involve individuals, groups and authorities concerned in decision- making processes. Three years later, at the 8th Wadden Sea Conference, a common management plan for the conservation of the Wadden Sea ecosystem (the Wadden Sea Plan: WSP) was adopted and the inhabitants of the region invited to contribute to the implementation of this plan. At the 9th governmental WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 84, © 2005 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) Sustainable Development and Planning II, Vol. 2 1295 conference in 2001 this request was substantiated through the decision to install a trilateral platform
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Status of the Baltic/Wadden Sea Population of the Common Eider Somateria M
    Baltic/Wadden Sea Common Eider 167 Status of the Baltic/Wadden Sea population of the Common Eider Somateria m. mollissima M. Desholm1, T.K. Christensen1, G. Scheiffarth2, M. Hario3, Å. Andersson4, B. Ens5, C.J. Camphuysen6, L. Nilsson7, C.M. Waltho8, S-H. Lorentsen9, A. Kuresoo10, R.K.H. Kats5,11, D.M. Fleet12 & A.D. Fox1 1Department of Coastal Zone Ecology, National Environmental Research Institute, Grenåvej 12, 8410 Rønde, Denmark. Email: [email protected]/[email protected]/[email protected] 2Institut für Vogelforschung, ‘Vogelwarte Helgoland’, An der Vogelwarte 21, D - 26386 Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Email: [email protected] 3Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, Söderskär Game Research Station. P.O.Box 6, FIN-00721 Helsinki, Finland. Email: [email protected] 4Ringgatan 39 C, S-752 17 Uppsala, Sweden. Email: [email protected] 5Alterra, P.O. Box 167, 1790 AD Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands. Email:[email protected]/[email protected] 6Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (Royal NIOZ), P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands. Email: [email protected] 7Department of Animal Ecology, University of Lund, Ecology Building, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden. Email: [email protected] 873 Stewart Street, Carluke, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK, ML8 5BY. Email: [email protected] 9Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. Tungasletta 2, N-7485 Trondheim, Norway Email: [email protected] 10Institute of Zoology and Botany, Riia St. 181, 51014, Tartu, Estonia. Email: [email protected] 11Department of Animal Ecology, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NH, Groningen, The Netherlands.
    [Show full text]
  • 2. the Wadden Sea Ecosystem
    The Ecosystem Approach of the Convention on Biological Diversity German Case Study on the lessons learned from the project “Ecosystem Research Wadden Sea” Report By commission of the Federal Environmental Agency, Berlin Grant no. 363 01 024 Author: Rolf Oeschger English translation: Matthias Seaman December 2000 Publisher: Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt) Bismarckplatz 1 14193 Berlin Germany Tel.: ++49.30.8903-0 Fax: ++49.30.8903-2285 Internet: www.umweltbundesamt.de Edited by: Section II 1.1 Birgit Georgi Gabriele Wollenburg Cover design: Birgit Georgi Thilo Mages-Dellè Berlin, December 2000 2 Summary It has increasingly become accepted in recent years that ecosystems can only be managed sensibly if they are perceived and protected in their entirety. To this end, 12 principles for an ecosystem approach and 5 points of operational guidance have been elaborated in the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity. They have not been applied to a marine ecosystem as yet. The “Ecosystem Research Wadden Sea” of 1989-1999 provides an appropriate case study for the practicality of these principles, because its integrative approach largely corresponds to the ecosystem approach. Principle 1: The objectives of management of land, water and living resources are a matter of societal choice Intensive publicity is an insufficient foundation for implementing management actions in a national park. Stakeholders whose economic interests are affected must be invol- ved in the preparation of the management concept at an early stage (e.g. by the formation of working groups), particularly since the implementation of precise measures often requires the stakeholders’ practical experience. When dealing with controversial and complex topics, it is advisable to employ independent mediators capable of formulating proposals to reconcile diverging interests.
    [Show full text]
  • Particularly Sensitive Seas Areas (Pssas)
    Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas Recommendation WWF calls on the Environment Ministers of the Baltic Organization (IMO) to the need for action. In addition, and North-East Atlantic to agree to take concerted action the Contracting Parties should work co-operatively within the framework of the International Maritime within the IMO to achieve an appropriate response, Organization (IMO) to promote the Baltic Sea, including action at a regional or local level. In a the Barents Sea and the waters of Western Europe*, comparable but more specific way, Article 8 of the 1992 as Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSA) Helsinki Convention, in conjunction with its Annex IV, along with appropriate protective measures. provides the basis for Baltic states to work * co-operatively at regional level and within the The waters of Portugal, Spain including the waters to the Straits of IMO to prevent pollution from shipping. Gibraltar, France, and to the west and east of Ireland and the UK, including the Irish Sea and relevant parts of the North Sea. Background Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs) are areas of the seas and oceans that need special protection through briefing action by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) because of their ecological, economic, cultural or scientific significance and their vulnerability to harmful Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas impacts from shipping activities. To date 5 PSSAs have PSSAs can benefit valuable ecosystems such as coral been designated globally and the 6th off the coast of reefs, intertidal wetlands and important marine and Peru is in the pipeline. The most recently designated coastal habitats. They are also important for migrating site, the Wadden Sea, is the first PSSA in European seabirds, dolphins, seals or other marine species, as well waters.
    [Show full text]
  • A Natural History of the Wadden Sea
    A natural history of the Wadden Sea Riddled by contingencies Karsten Reise People who are always praising the past And especially the times of faith as best Ought to go back to the middle ages and be burned at the stake as witches and sages. Stevie Smith (1902-1971) Contents 4 Preface by Jens Enemark 50 Chapter 5 Beginning of a new wadden alliance? 6 Contents in a clamshell. A few preliminary comments by the author 60 Chapter 6 How natural is wadden nature? 7 Introduction 70 Chapter 7 What does the future hold 10 Chapter 1 for the Wadden Sea? Why natural history? 80 Conclusions and 22 Chapter 2 recommendations Contingency in natural history What is contingency? 84 The Author / Acknowledgements 34 Chapter 3 On the origin of the Wadden Sea 86 Endnotes 42 Chapter 4 Invited to drown 88 Bibliography Hoofdstuk Preface It is a privilege to write the preface of this booklet by Karsten Contingency is a central notion in Reise’s work and vision. Reise A natural history of the Wadden Sea. Riddled by contingencies. It refers to space­and­time coincidences and accidental events. It is the fourth booklet in a series that is being published to mark Contingency is almost always involved in natural patterns. The the occasion of the special lectures being held at the symposia natural history of the Wadden Sea displays such contingencies. organised by the Wadden Academy. It cannot be understood as a self­sustaining and resilient system with an inbuilt capability to find a natural balance. Attention to Karsten Reise delivered the keynote address entitled ‘Turning contingency will strengthen realism and promote prudence tides: A natural history of the Wadden Sea’ at the 13th Inter­ when it comes to projections for the future, Karsten Reise argues.
    [Show full text]
  • Status, Threats and Conservation of Birds in the German Wadden Sea
    Status, threats and conservation of birds in the German Wadden Sea Technical Report Impressum – Legal notice © 2010, NABU-Bundesverband Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) e.V. www.NABU.de Charitéstraße 3 D-10117 Berlin Tel. +49 (0)30.28 49 84-0 Fax +49 (0)30.28 49 84-20 00 [email protected] Text: Hermann Hötker, Stefan Schrader, Phillip Schwemmer, Nadine Oberdiek, Jan Blew Language editing: Richard Evans, Solveigh Lass-Evans Edited by: Stefan Schrader, Melanie Ossenkop Design: Christine Kuchem (www.ck-grafik-design.de) Printed by: Druckhaus Berlin-Mitte, Berlin, Germany EMAS certified, printed on 100 % recycled paper, certified environmentally friendly under the German „Blue Angel“ scheme. First edition 03/2010 Available from: NABU Natur Shop, Am Eisenwerk 13, 30519 Hannover, Germany, Tel. +49 (0)5 11.2 15 71 11, Fax +49 (0)5 11.1 23 83 14, [email protected] or at www.NABU.de/Shop Cost: 2.50 Euro per copy plus postage and packing payable by invoice. Item number 5215 Picture credits: Cover picture: M. Stock; small pictures from left to right: F. Derer, S. Schrader, M. Schäf. Status, threats and conservation of birds in the German Wadden Sea 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4 Technical Report 2 The German Wadden Sea as habitat for birds .......................................................................... 5 2.1 General description of the German Wadden Sea area .....................................................................................5
    [Show full text]
  • Linking Natura 2000 and Cultural Heritage Case Studies
    Linking Natura 2000 and cultural heritage Case studies Environment GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE EU In person All over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct information centres. You can find the address of the centre nearest you at: http://europa.eu/contact On the phone or by email Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union. You can contact this service: by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls) at the following standard number: +32 22999696, o by electronic mail via: http://europa.eu/contac Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. Cover: © Megali and Mikri Prespa Lakes, Matera, Mt Athos, Secoveljske sol, Las Médulas, Iroise Marine Park Graphic design and layout of Paola Trucco. Print ISBN 978-92-79-70164-1 doi:10.2779/658599 KH-04-17-352-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-79-67725-0 doi:10.2779/577837 KH-04-17-352-EN-N © European Union, 2017 Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017 This document has been prepared for the European Commission by THE N2K GROUP. The case studies were written by Livia Bellisari, Tania Deodati (Comunità Ambiente/N2K Group) Concha Olmeda, Ana Guimarães (Atecma/N2K GROUP), with the collaboration of Kerstin Sundseth and Oliviero Spinelli under contract N° 070202/2015/714775/ SER/B3. Numéro de projet: 2017.3106 Linking Natura 2000 and cultural
    [Show full text]
  • 6 the North Frisians and the Wadden Sea
    6 The North Frisians and the Wadden Sea Thomas Steensen Abstract The Wadden Sea is not the edge of North Frisia, it is not a marginal part, but an integral and central element. The district of North Frisia (Kreis Nordfriesland), founded in 1970, covers an area of 2,083 square kilometres. To that must be added the Wadden region between the Eider River and the Lister Tief, covering an area of about 1,750 square kilometres. North Frisia consists of 55 percent land and no less than 45 percent mudflats. The Wadden Sea, especially the North Frisian part of it, has been shaped by an interplay over centuries between man and his natural surroundings, a phenomenon that it difficult to find elsewhere in the world. Large parts of the Wadden Sea form a ‘cemetery of the marshlands’. Kulturspuren (traces of culture) such as remains of terps and dikesdike, bricks, pottery shards, tidal gates, ditch systems, furrows, entire farming fields, and places of early salt peat extraction are a testament to the interdependence between man and nature. Archaeologist Hans Joachim Kühn considers this ‘an inexhaustible archive of remembrance and research, sometimes even of shudder’. Throughout the centuries, there has been a special relationship between the North Frisians and the Wadden Sea. This is reflected by the intense discussions on the establishment of a national park. It really would have been appropriate if in 2009 the Wadden Sea had been recognised not only as a World Natural Heritage Site but also as a World Cultural Heritage Site. So far, this cultural landscape has not been sufficiently put into focus.
    [Show full text]
  • Species Fact Sheets for the Wadden Sea Fish Strategy
    Species Fact Sheets for the Wadden Sea Fish Strategy Factsheets for Wadden Sea Fish Strategy Wadden for Factsheets Overview of 19 species in the Wadden Sea sampled in the Demersal Fish Survey 1 Introduction The Demersal Fish Survey (DFS) is a beam trawl survey covering the subtidal and deeper channels of the Wadden Sea and the coastal zone Tulp et al. (2008, 2015). It has been carried out in September-October since 1970 and the largest size classes. Most size classes show This is especially relevant because it is likely that is concurrently carried out in the Fish in the Wadden Sea The current status of fish in the Wadden Sea higher densities in the mid 1980s and a decline factors outside the Wadden Sea (North Sea, coastal waters (up to 25m depth) afterwards. estuaries, rivers) determine the distribution and from the southern border of the has been analysed by the research institutes abundance of the species in the Wadden Sea Netherlands to Esbjerg, including IMARES and NIOZ in cooperation with the the Wadden Sea, the outer part Programme towards a Rich Wadden Sea This study shows that there is a lack of data on itself. of the Ems-Dollard estuary, (PRW). The results are published in the report the fish community in the Wadden Sea. Not and the Westerschelde and the “Wadden Sea Fish Haven – development only on the drivers affecting the trends, but Important habitats for fish have disappeared in Oosterschelde in the south-east. agenda for fish in the Wadden Sea and also on the species themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • The Trophic Structure of a Wadden Sea Fish Community and Its Feeding Interactions with Alien Species
    The trophic structure of a Wadden Sea fish community and its feeding interactions with alien species Die trophische Struktur einer Fischgemeinschaft des Wattenmeeres und deren Fraßinteraktionen mit gebietsfremden Arten DISSERTATION Zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel vorgelegt von Florian Kellnreitner Kiel, 2012 Referent: Dr. habil. Harald Asmus Korreferent: Prof. Dr. Thorsten Reusch Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 24. April 2012 Zum Druck genehmigt: Contents Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 1 Zusammenfassung ................................................................................................................................ 3 1. General Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 5 2. The Wadden Sea of the North Sea and the Sylt-Rømø Bight .........................................................14 3. Seasonal variation of assemblage and feeding guild structure of fish species in a boreal tidal basin. ..................................................................................................................27 4. Trophic structure of the fish community in a boreal tidal basin, the Sylt- Rømø Bight, revealed by stable isotope analysis .........................................................................55 5. Feeding interactions
    [Show full text]
  • A Case for Granting Legal Personality to the Dutch Part of the Wadden Sea
    WATER INTERNATIONAL 2019, VOL. 44, NOS. 6–7, 786–803 https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2019.1679925 RESEARCH ARTICLE A case for granting legal personality to the Dutch part of the Wadden Sea Tineke Lambooya,b,c, Jan van de Venisd and Christiaan Stokkermanse aCenter for Entrepreneurship, Governance & Stewardship, Nyenrode Business University, Breukelen, Netherlands; 5 bUtrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands; cFaculty of Law, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia; dJustLawinCorporateLawandHumanRights,Amsterdam, Netherlands; eAmsterdam Court of Appeals, Amsterdam, Netherlands ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY This article proposes that the Dutch Wadden Sea, a tidal wetland, Received 18 July 2019 10 can be protected by recognizing that it can own itself, in keeping Accepted 9 October 2019 with the emerging international trend of granting rights and legal KEYWORDS personality to important ecosystems. Under Dutch law, legal per- Nature; legal personhood; sonality could be granted to the Wadden Sea in the form of a governance; World Heritage; ‘natureship’ (natuurschap), a legal form that perfectly fits into the tidal wetlands; Wadden Sea; 15 Dutch legal system. The legal objective of the Wadden Sea Netherlands Natureship could be to focus on maintaining the ecosystem in a healthy condition. Introduction The Wadden Sea is the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the 20 world, with natural processes undisturbed throughout most of the area. It is rich in biological diversity. This World Heritage area encompasses over a million hectares and covers a multitude of transitional zones between land, sea and freshwater environments (UNESCO.org, n.d.). The Wadden Sea is shared between the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.
    [Show full text]
  • WADDEN SEA (Extension of the “Wadden Sea”, Germany / Netherlands)
    EUROPE / NORTH AMERICA WADDEN SEA (Extension of the “Wadden Sea”, Germany / Netherlands) DENMARK / GERMANY Denmark / Germany – Wadden Sea WORLD HERITAGE NOMINATION – IUCN TECHNICAL EVALUATION WADDEN SEA (DENMARK / GERMANY) – ID No. 1314 Ter IUCN RECOMMENDATION TO WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE: To approve the extension under natural criteria. Key paragraphs of Operational Guidelines: Paragraph 77: Nominated property meets World Heritage criteria. Paragraph 78: Nominated property meets integrity or protection and management requirements. Background note: In 1988 Germany nominated the mudflats of the Wadden Sea in Lower Saxony for World Heritage inscription. The Committee, at its 13th Session (Paris, 1989), recommended that the nomination of this property be deferred until a fully revised nomination of the Wadden Sea was submitted jointly by Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. In 2008 Germany and the Netherlands resubmitted a joint nomination and the Committee, at its 33rd Session (Seville, 2009), inscribed the Wadden Sea (Germany/Netherlands), on the World Heritage List under natural criteria (viii), (ix) and (x) (decision 33 COM 8B.4), covering an area of 968,393 ha. In 2010 Germany and the Netherlands submitted a Minor Boundary Modification to include the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park (13,611 ha) which was approved by the Committee at its 35th Session (Paris, 2011, decision 35COM 8B.47). Thus the property now covers an area of 982,004 ha. The Committee, at its 33rd Session (Seville, 2009) and at its 35th Session (Paris, 2011) encouraged the States Parties of Germany and the Netherlands to work with the State Party of Denmark and consider the potential for nominating an extension of the property to include the Danish Wadden Sea.
    [Show full text]
  • The Guiding Principle for the Wadden Sea: Advantages of a Dynamic Approach in a Changing World Hans-Ulrich Rösner, WWF Germany, Hafenstr
    Science and Policy 23 The Guiding Principle for the Wadden Sea: Advantages of a dynamic approach in a changing world HansUlrich Rösner, WWF Germany, Hafenstr. 3, D25813 Husum, [email protected] Abstract main dike line, including the more natural parts The management for the Wadden Sea has been of the islands. successful in preventing a further deterioration 2. The present management of of the overall condition of its nature during the last 20 years. This positive statement is true only the Wadden Sea, its successes, if pros and cons are balanced, i.e. there are also and some predictions issues where there have been deteriorations during The Wadden Sea and its management regime the last decades. It must also be kept in mind that evolved over quite some time. Safeguarding of nature was already badly affected before. some seabird colonies began about 100 years The Guiding Principle for the Wadden Sea ago. However, it was not until roughly 50 years favours natural processes whenever possible. It ago that larger areas of the Wadden Sea became is among the major achievements of the three protected. The “Trilateral Cooperation” of the three countries for the protection of the area, providing Wadden Sea countries is about 30 years old, with an overall umbrella against which management the first “Joint Declaration on the Protection of decisions can and should be measured. The Guid the Wadden Sea” being decided upon on Decem ing Principle is also fit for the future, in particular ber 9th, 1982 by The Netherlands, Germany and as the use of natural processes may become Denmark.
    [Show full text]