Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park
Encyclopedia
The Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park was established in 1986 and embraces the East Frisian Islands
, mudflats and salt marshes
between the Bay of Dollart
on the border with the Netherlands
in the west and Cuxhaven as far as the Outer Elbe
shipping channel in the east. The national park has an area of about 345800 hectares (1,335.1 sq mi). The National Park organisation is located in Wilhelmshaven
. Since June 2009 the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea
and the Dutch Wadden Sea.
s, salt marsh
es, beach
es, dune
s and estuaries
on the North Sea
. Special attention is given to the wildlife
and flora
typical of the Wadden Sea
of which the park forms a part.
The coast of the North Sea is unusually flat. The seabed descends in places only a few centimetres per kilometre. Twice daily the tide
brings sand
, clay
and silt
into the Wadden Sea. Dunes, formed by the wind out of fine grains of sand from the exposed mudflats, characterise the coast
.
The Wadden Sea
is the second most productive ecosystem after the tropical rainforest
- only the latter surpasses the Wadden Sea in terms of its living biomass
. The forms of life found in the Wadden Sea include diatoms, snail
s, worm
s, mussels and shrimp
. A typical inhabitant of the sandy mudflats is the lugworm
, which lives in a U-shaped tube under the surface of the mud.
Up to 4,000 animal and plant species specialize in the unusually food-rich habitat of the Wadden Sea. For example, shelduck
live on the snails, which are found in hundreds of thousands on the surface of the flats. The approximately 180,000 birds of north-western Europe's shelduck population also spends their moulting season from July to September in the Wadden Sea, as do about 200,000 eider
; and about 1,000 pairs of eiders use the mudflats of the North Sea as a breeding area. Most of them breed on the island of Amrum
.
At the same time, the Wadden Sea is a resting place for breeding birds from northern countries that feed here to build up the fat reserves they need for successful breeding. For example, about 10-12 million waders, geese, ducks and gulls gather in the whole Wadden Sea area.
Seals may also be observed on the sandbanks of the Wadden Sea and the adjacent salt marshes, sandy beaches and sand dunes. The salt marshes are a breeding area for the pied avocet
and terns as well as a habitat for the sea holly
and sea lavender that bloom in summer. The typical plant of the dunes is the beachgrass, which anchors the dunes with its extensive root
system.
of 1971, the present-day national park regions and the Dollart Bay have been protected as "wetlands of international importance".
In 1979 Hans-Joachim Augst and Holger Wesemüller submitted a report, which developed a zoning model based on the different levels of importance of the various areas of the Wadden Sea that were worth protecting. The 1982 Lower Saxon regional development
programme subsequently set the development of a national park
for the "East Frisian Islands and coast" as a state planning objective. This idea was taken up in 1983, when plans for a comprehensive national park began. In early 1984 the cabinet decided to approve the national park in principle and on 1 January 1986 the national park regulation came into force.
According to the UNESCO "man and biosphere" programme, the entire national park became recognized as a biosphere reserve
in 1992 (see Lower Saxony Wadden Sea Biosphere Reserve).
All zones of the national park are designated as bird reserves under the EU's Birds Directive
, and zones I and II are designated as Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive and therefore fall under the protection of Natura 2000
guidelines.
Initially the national park was protected by a 1986 regulation; this was superseded in 1999 by a law. But by 11 July 2001, the law was amended by the Lower Saxon State Parliament so that many areas were removed from the scope of the national park in order to support tourism
or had their zoning downgraded. To compensate, an area of sea in front of the islands of Borkum and Baltrum and the former nature reserve in the eastern part of the Dollart were added to the national park. This increased the size of the protected area from 240,000 hectares to almost 280,000 hectares.
In January 2002 the East Frisian conservation group Wattenrat Ost-Friesland complained to the EU Commission in Brussels about the removal or downgrading of more than 80 areas in order to support tourism; these were predominantly on the islands of East Frisia. The appeal was incorporated by the Commission into ongoing infringement proceedings against Germany (Complaint No. 2002/4099, Ref: ENV A2/MD/avdm D (2005) 6096)).
After more than four years, the EU Commission informed the Wattenrat-Ostfriesland in October 2006 that the complaint was closed "because the Federal Republic of Germany has now identified sufficient areas which are proposed as Special Areas of Conservation (Az: ENV A.2/MD/pd D 2006 21 119). The conservation group argued that this did not make sense from a nature conservation perspective, as the national park belonged to a previously designated special area of conservation and and bird reserve and that, contrary to the provisions of the Natura 2000 directive, it was now in a worse state of repair. It claimed the EU was supporting largely economically-motivated changes to the national park to provide additional tourist facilities at the cost of valuable plant habitats and bird breeding or migration sites.
In July 2006 the twentieth anniversary of the Wadden Sea National Park was celebrated on the beach at Neßmersiel
on the initiative of the state of Lower Saxony. The Lower Saxon nature conservation organizations under the auspices of the WWF, marked the 20-year anniversary with a critical "national park balance" , which highlights its many conflicting uses in detail.
The Wadden Sea National Park is listed by the IUCN under its "Category II, National Parks". It should be noted, however, that the "World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is based on reports by the individual countries and, at the moment, there is no independent verification of the assigned categories which can lead to errors in the listing. It is also important to know that Categories I to VI reflect the objectives of the protected area's management, but are not an indicator of quality nor of success or failure. The European Environment Agency (EAP) lists the Wadden Sea National Park, however, in "Category V, Protected Landscape", which corresponds to a conservation area (statement by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in Cambridge dated 23 October 2008.
In 2008, the Wadden Sea in Lower Saxony and Schleswig Holstein was proposed to UNESCO for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The President of the German UNESCO Commission since 2003 is Walter Hirche (FDP), the former Economic Minister in Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2009.
Prior to the nomination of the Wadden Sea as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an inspection visit was held by a senior officer of the Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was held in summer 2008, together with representatives of the tourism industry in and around the Wadden Sea. Following this, there were newspaper reports claiming that the UNESCO nomination was an "internationally effective marketing tool for the tourism industry" and that additional restrictions imposed for conservation purposes were not involved. On 26 June 2009, the Wadden Sea National Park was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Seville
, along with the Dutch Wadden Sea and the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Parks. Hamburg and Denmark have so far refused to allow their mudflats to be nominated.
, Borkum
, Langeoog
, Juist
, Mellum
, Memmert
, Minsener Oog
, Norderney
, Spiekeroog
and Wangerooge
. Only the actual settlements and infrastructure on the inhabited islands are completely excluded from the national park's protection. In addition, certain areas that are used primarily for recreation (for example, stretches of beach) have limited protection under Zone III.
Two national park centres:
Twelve national park information centres:
Two national park partner institutions:
Private companies:
Certified national park Wadden Sea tour guides:
East Frisian Islands
The East Frisian Islands are a chain of islands in the North Sea, off the coast of East Frisia in Lower Saxony, Germany. The islands extend for some from west to east between the mouths of the Ems and Jade / Weser rivers and lie about 3.5 to 10 km offshore...
, mudflats and salt marshes
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
between the Bay of Dollart
Dollart
The Dollart is a bay between northern Netherlands and Germany, on the west side of the estuary of the Ems river. Most of it dries at low tide. Many water birds feed there.- Gaining from and losing to the sea :...
on the border with the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in the west and Cuxhaven as far as the Outer Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
shipping channel in the east. The national park has an area of about 345800 hectares (1,335.1 sq mi). The National Park organisation is located in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
. Since June 2009 the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea
Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park
The Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park is a national park in the Schleswig-Holstein area of the German Wadden Sea. It was founded by the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein on 1 October 1985 by the National Park Act of 22 July 1985 and expanded significantly in 1999...
and the Dutch Wadden Sea.
Ecology
The habitats to be protected by this park include the mudflatMudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
s, salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
es, beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es, dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s and estuaries
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
on the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. Special attention is given to the wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
and flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
typical of the Wadden Sea
Wadden Sea
The Wadden Sea 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...
of which the park forms a part.
The coast of the North Sea is unusually flat. The seabed descends in places only a few centimetres per kilometre. Twice daily the tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
brings sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
, clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
and silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
into the Wadden Sea. Dunes, formed by the wind out of fine grains of sand from the exposed mudflats, characterise the coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
.
The Wadden Sea
Wadden Sea
The Wadden Sea 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...
is the second most productive ecosystem after the tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforest
A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem type that occurs roughly within the latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the equator . This ecosystem experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall...
- only the latter surpasses the Wadden Sea in terms of its living biomass
Biomass (ecology)
Biomass, in ecology, is the mass of living biological organisms in a given area or ecosystem at a given time. Biomass can refer to species biomass, which is the mass of one or more species, or to community biomass, which is the mass of all species in the community. It can include microorganisms,...
. The forms of life found in the Wadden Sea include diatoms, snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s, worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s, mussels and shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
. A typical inhabitant of the sandy mudflats is the lugworm
Lugworm
The lugworm or sandworm, Arenicola marina, is a large marine worm of the phylum Annelida. Its coiled castings are a familiar sight on a beach at low tide but the animal itself is rarely seen except by those who, from curiosity or to use as fishing bait, dig the worm out of the sand.When fully...
, which lives in a U-shaped tube under the surface of the mud.
Up to 4,000 animal and plant species specialize in the unusually food-rich habitat of the Wadden Sea. For example, shelduck
Common Shelduck
The Common Shelduck is a waterfowl species shelduck genus Tadorna. It is widespread and common in Eurasia, mainly breeding in temperate and wintering in subtropical regions; in winter, it can also be found in the Maghreb...
live on the snails, which are found in hundreds of thousands on the surface of the flats. The approximately 180,000 birds of north-western Europe's shelduck population also spends their moulting season from July to September in the Wadden Sea, as do about 200,000 eider
Common Eider
The Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, is a large sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on...
; and about 1,000 pairs of eiders use the mudflats of the North Sea as a breeding area. Most of them breed on the island of Amrum
Amrum
Amrum is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein...
.
At the same time, the Wadden Sea is a resting place for breeding birds from northern countries that feed here to build up the fat reserves they need for successful breeding. For example, about 10-12 million waders, geese, ducks and gulls gather in the whole Wadden Sea area.
Seals may also be observed on the sandbanks of the Wadden Sea and the adjacent salt marshes, sandy beaches and sand dunes. The salt marshes are a breeding area for the pied avocet
Pied Avocet
The Pied Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta, is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and western and Central Asia. It is a migratory species and most winter in Africa or southern Asia...
and terns as well as a habitat for the sea holly
Sea holly
The Sea holly is a species of Eryngium in the plant family Apiaceae and native to most European coastlines. In some ways, it resembles a flowering thistle, in that its flower is burr-shaped, though these are metallic blue, rather than mauve. The protected dune plant grows to a height of 20 to...
and sea lavender that bloom in summer. The typical plant of the dunes is the beachgrass, which anchors the dunes with its extensive root
Root
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
system.
History of the national park
Since the Ramsar ConventionRamsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
of 1971, the present-day national park regions and the Dollart Bay have been protected as "wetlands of international importance".
In 1979 Hans-Joachim Augst and Holger Wesemüller submitted a report, which developed a zoning model based on the different levels of importance of the various areas of the Wadden Sea that were worth protecting. The 1982 Lower Saxon regional development
Regional development
Regional development is the provision of aid and other assistance to regions which are less economically developed. Regional development may be domestic or international in nature...
programme subsequently set the development of a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
for the "East Frisian Islands and coast" as a state planning objective. This idea was taken up in 1983, when plans for a comprehensive national park began. In early 1984 the cabinet decided to approve the national park in principle and on 1 January 1986 the national park regulation came into force.
According to the UNESCO "man and biosphere" programme, the entire national park became recognized as a biosphere reserve
Biosphere reserve
The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...
in 1992 (see Lower Saxony Wadden Sea Biosphere Reserve).
All zones of the national park are designated as bird reserves under the EU's Birds Directive
Birds Directive
The Birds Directive is a European Union directive adopted in 2009. It replaces Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds which was modified several times and had become very unclear...
, and zones I and II are designated as Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive and therefore fall under the protection of Natura 2000
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is an ecological network of protected areas in the territory of the European Union.-Origins:In May 1992, the governments of the European Communities adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe. This legislation is called the...
guidelines.
Initially the national park was protected by a 1986 regulation; this was superseded in 1999 by a law. But by 11 July 2001, the law was amended by the Lower Saxon State Parliament so that many areas were removed from the scope of the national park in order to support tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
or had their zoning downgraded. To compensate, an area of sea in front of the islands of Borkum and Baltrum and the former nature reserve in the eastern part of the Dollart were added to the national park. This increased the size of the protected area from 240,000 hectares to almost 280,000 hectares.
In January 2002 the East Frisian conservation group Wattenrat Ost-Friesland complained to the EU Commission in Brussels about the removal or downgrading of more than 80 areas in order to support tourism; these were predominantly on the islands of East Frisia. The appeal was incorporated by the Commission into ongoing infringement proceedings against Germany (Complaint No. 2002/4099, Ref: ENV A2/MD/avdm D (2005) 6096)).
After more than four years, the EU Commission informed the Wattenrat-Ostfriesland in October 2006 that the complaint was closed "because the Federal Republic of Germany has now identified sufficient areas which are proposed as Special Areas of Conservation (Az: ENV A.2/MD/pd D 2006 21 119). The conservation group argued that this did not make sense from a nature conservation perspective, as the national park belonged to a previously designated special area of conservation and and bird reserve and that, contrary to the provisions of the Natura 2000 directive, it was now in a worse state of repair. It claimed the EU was supporting largely economically-motivated changes to the national park to provide additional tourist facilities at the cost of valuable plant habitats and bird breeding or migration sites.
In July 2006 the twentieth anniversary of the Wadden Sea National Park was celebrated on the beach at Neßmersiel
Neßmersiel
Neßmersiel belongs to the municipality Dornum in the rural district Aurich in Lower Saxony, Germany. Neßmersiel is located about 5 kilometres northwest of Dornum. From 1867 to 1977, Neßmersiel belonged to Norden ....
on the initiative of the state of Lower Saxony. The Lower Saxon nature conservation organizations under the auspices of the WWF, marked the 20-year anniversary with a critical "national park balance" , which highlights its many conflicting uses in detail.
The Wadden Sea National Park is listed by the IUCN under its "Category II, National Parks". It should be noted, however, that the "World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is based on reports by the individual countries and, at the moment, there is no independent verification of the assigned categories which can lead to errors in the listing. It is also important to know that Categories I to VI reflect the objectives of the protected area's management, but are not an indicator of quality nor of success or failure. The European Environment Agency (EAP) lists the Wadden Sea National Park, however, in "Category V, Protected Landscape", which corresponds to a conservation area (statement by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in Cambridge dated 23 October 2008.
In 2008, the Wadden Sea in Lower Saxony and Schleswig Holstein was proposed to UNESCO for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The President of the German UNESCO Commission since 2003 is Walter Hirche (FDP), the former Economic Minister in Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2009.
Prior to the nomination of the Wadden Sea as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an inspection visit was held by a senior officer of the Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was held in summer 2008, together with representatives of the tourism industry in and around the Wadden Sea. Following this, there were newspaper reports claiming that the UNESCO nomination was an "internationally effective marketing tool for the tourism industry" and that additional restrictions imposed for conservation purposes were not involved. On 26 June 2009, the Wadden Sea National Park was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, along with the Dutch Wadden Sea and the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Parks. Hamburg and Denmark have so far refused to allow their mudflats to be nominated.
Zoning
The national park is divided into three zones with different protection status.- Zone I: the most strictly protected quiet zone accounts for about 68.5% of the area and may only be entered in a few areas, such as along paths or as part of guided mudflatMudflatMudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
walks, whatever the time of year. - Zone II: The intermediate zone forms 31.0% of the area and may, with the exception of designated bird reserveBird ReserveA bird reserve is a wildlife refuge designed to protect bird species. Like other wildlife refuges, the main goal of a reserve is to prevent species from becoming endangered or extinct. Typically, bird species in a reserve are protected from hunting and habitat destruction...
s, be entered at any time of year on designated routes. The bird reserves may only be entered on marked trails during the main breeding, feeding and resting times of the birds from 1 April to 31 July. - Zone III: The recreation zone has the smallest area, making up only 0.5% of the total, and is primarily intended for recreational purposes.
Islands
The national park includes land on the islands of BaltrumBaltrum
Baltrum is a barrier island off the coast of East Frisia , in Germany, and is a municipality in the district of Aurich, Lower Saxony. It is located in-between the chain of the seven inhabited East Frisian Islands...
, Borkum
Borkum
Borkum is an island and a municipality in the Leer District in Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany.-Geography:Borkum is bordered to the west by the Westerems strait , to the east by the Osterems strait, to the north by the North Sea, and to the south by the Wadden Sea...
, Langeoog
Langeoog
Langeoog is one of the seven inhabited East Frisian Islands at the edge of the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea in the southern North Sea, located between Baltrum Island , and Spiekeroog . It is also a municipality in the district of Wittmund in Lower Saxony, Germany. The name Langeoog means Long Island in...
, Juist
Juist
Juist is one of the seven inhabited East Frisian Islands at the edge of the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea in the southern North Sea, located between Borkum Island , Memmert Island and Norderney...
, Mellum
Mellum
Mellum is an uninhabited East Frisian island lying southeast of Wangerooge, off the coastal settlements of Horumersiel and Schillig.Mellum formed as an island off the end of the Butjadingen peninsula – which divides the outflows into the Wadden Sea of the Jade and Weser rivers – only at...
, Memmert
Memmert
Memmert is a small East Frisian island off the northern coast of Germany, with an area of . Memmert is uninhabited, with only one house on the island for wildlife-spotting purposes. Occasionally, some guests from the neighboring islands visit Memmert for recreation...
, Minsener Oog
Minsener Oog
Minsener Oog, also Minser Oog or Minsener Oldeoog, is an uninhabited East Frisian island, that belongs to the parish of Wangerooge in the north German district of Friesland...
, Norderney
Norderney
Norderney is one of the seven populated East Frisian Islands off the North Sea coast of Germany. It is also a municipality in the district of Aurich in Lower Saxony....
, Spiekeroog
Spiekeroog
Spiekeroog is one of the East Frisian Islands, off the North Sea coast of Germany. It is situated between Langeoog to its west, and Wangerooge to its east. The island belongs to the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony in Germany. The only village on the island is also called...
and Wangerooge
Wangerooge
Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is also a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany.Wangerooge is one of the East Frisian Islands...
. Only the actual settlements and infrastructure on the inhabited islands are completely excluded from the national park's protection. In addition, certain areas that are used primarily for recreation (for example, stretches of beach) have limited protection under Zone III.
Address of the park management
- Nationalparkverwaltung Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer
- Virchowstraße 1
- D-26382 Wilhelmshaven
- Tel:04421-911-0
See also
- Wadden SeaWadden SeaThe Wadden Sea 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...
- Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National ParkSchleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National ParkThe Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park is a national park in the Schleswig-Holstein area of the German Wadden Sea. It was founded by the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein on 1 October 1985 by the National Park Act of 22 July 1985 and expanded significantly in 1999...
- Hamburg Wadden Sea National ParkHamburg Wadden Sea National ParkThe Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park is an exclave of the city state of Hamburg in North Germany and lies 12.5 km off Cuxhaven in the estuary of the Elbe in the North Sea . This part of the Wadden Sea lies inside the area of the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park and also includes the...
- Wadden Sea Conservation StationWadden Sea Conservation StationThe Wadden Sea Conservation Station is a non-profit, NGO in North Germany. The organisation was founded in 1962 and, since then, has been one of the official NGO partners of the Wadden Sea National Parks...
- Mudflat hiking
Films
- Im Nationalpark Wattenmeer. Documentary, 45 min., Germany, 1998, by Jens-Uwe Heins und Michael Sutor, Production: Komplett-Media-GmbH, Grünwald (ISBN 3-89672-492-4),
External links
Information on the national park management:Two national park centres:
Twelve national park information centres:
- Nationalpark-Haus Baltrum
- Nationalpark-Haus Carolinensiel
- Nationalpark-Haus Dangast
- Nationalpark-Haus Dornumersiel
- Nationalpark-Haus Fedderwardersiel
- Nationalpark-Haus Greetsiel
- Nationalpark-Haus Juist
- Nationalpark-Haus Land Wursten
- Nationalpark-Haus Norderney
- Nationalpark-Haus Wangerooge
- Nationalpark-Schiff "Feuerschiff Borkumriff"
- Nationalpark-Zentrum Norden-Norddeich
Two national park partner institutions:
Private companies:
Certified national park Wadden Sea tour guides: