The Husum Conference

The 3rd Inter-Regional Wadden Sea Conference in Husum, Germany, October 09, 1997

INTER-REGIONAL CONFERENCE

At the 3rd Inter-regional Wadden Sea Conference, which took place in Husum, Germany in October 1997, the six regions from The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark agreed upon a continuation of their cooperation for another three years. The overall Inter-regional Wadden Sea Cooperation (IRWC) is based on joint principles of sustainability, integration and subsidiarity as set down in the EU-concept for Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Europe (ICZM), and it will be carried out in close cooperation with local authorities and interest organizations, as well as, governmental authorities, the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation and the European Union. "Sustainability" is defined as ecologically preservable, economically viable and socially acceptable.

In Schleswig-Holstein, the counties ("Kreise") will be involved, to a greater extent, in the IRWC, because of the far-reaching competencies in Wadden Sea affairs. A necessary re-organization will be presented within the IRWC by the end of 1998.

Furthermore, the Conference emphasized that the regional endeavor is an integrated and supplementary part of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation in the Wadden Sea Area and it was confirmed that the Stade Declaration (TGC 8), the Wadden Sea Plan and the Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Program, TMAP, also constitute the framework for the IRWC. The regions also confirmed their commitments to jointly contribute to the implementation of these decisions and to ensure practical and acceptable solutions for the local population.

THE HUSUM STATEMENT

The objectives and strategies of the IRWC were laid down in a "Husum Statement". These are too extensive to cite here but some of the main objectives are:

- to create common regional viewpoints on the protection of the natural and environmental assets, the cultural, historical and scenic assets and, for the commercial use of the Wadden Sea Region, to strengthen the regional political influence in the formulation and implementation of the national/trilateral decisions about the future of the Region;

- to increase the activities of the regions in the implementation of decisions from the Trilateral Governmental Conferences (TGC), as well as, implementation of EU Directives and other relevant international decisions to create practical and acceptable solutions for the local population;

- to make the exchange of information and data of common regional interest more effective with regard to planning, administration and supervision within IRWC, as well a,s to increase the coordination of these areas with the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation and the EU;

- to pursue the aim that the future NATURA 2000-site Wadden Sea Area will be based on coordinated and uniform, ecological criteria in all three countries.

Integrated Management within the Wadden Sea Region

At the Husum Conference it was made clear that the future IRWC should not only include protection of the Wadden Sea Area, but also include protection, socioeconomic and safety aspects in the whole coastal zone along the Wadden Sea (the Wadden Sea Region) which particularly influence the management of the Wadden Sea Area. This was expressed in a joint recommendation to the 8th TGC:

"After more than 20 years of cooperation on the protection of the Wadden Sea - notwithstanding the statements made in the Stade Declaration - the regions should urge the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation to put into perspective and to make concrete its future efforts regarding the sustainable management of the whole coastal zone, where the protection of The Wadden Sea Area is integrated with the social and economic needs of the surrounding society ....."

Harmonization of the Implementation of the EIA Directive

According to an agreement with the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation, the IRWC undertook the development of a joint proposal to fulfil §§ 24-28 in the Leeuwarden Declaration - with the aim to present it at the 8th TGC. The work focused on "the exchange of information", "harmonization of EIA regulations and procedures" and "the level of environmental information".

The IRWC decided to recommend to the ministers in particular:

- that the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation should commit themselves to join the information exchange and consultation about EIAs in the Wadden Sea Region according to the IRWC guidelines and procedures;

- that, concerning the new EU Directive on EIAs, all Annex II-projects and their enlargements should be EIA-mandatory within the Wadden Sea Region if they may have a significant impact on the protection goals of the EU Bird Directive or the EU Habitat Directive areas;

- that EIAs carried out in the Wadden Sea Region must entail different alternatives, as well as, the social and economic needs for the project;

Tourism: Potentials, Consequences

The IRWC-project on "the Sustainable Development of Tourism and Recreational Use in the Wadden Sea Region" focuses on the connection between the opportunities and the social and ecological consequences of the tourism development. A joint regional proposal for a future policy on tourism in the Wadden Sea Region will be presented at the 9th TGC. Up to the 8th TGC, the IRWC decided to base this policy on different scenarios and on a number of visions. Similarly, the regions have agreed upon a range of initiatives which are of considerable importance in drawing up this policy.

Joint Criteria for Delimitation

At the 7th TGC in 1994, the Danish and Dutch regions along the Wadden Sea recommended that "the delimitation of the Wadden Sea area should be based on common ecological principles in accordance with the designation in the EU Habitat Directive....".

The delimitation of the Wadden Sea Area on the mainland does still not conform to uniform principles regarding the ecological relations within the Wadden Sea and the embanked marsh areas - and the designation of habitat areas in all three countries is, after three years, still incomplete. The IRWC therefore decided to recommend to the ministers:

- that they give higher priority to the nomination of EU-Habitat areas with regard to former decisions at the trilateral conferences, as the procedure is still not harmonized and coordinated;

- that the nomination of the Wadden Sea areas within the framework of NATURA 2000-network should also be assessed in light of uniformed ecological principles;

- After the nomination of the joint NATURA 2000 area in the framework of the EU Habitat Directive, the consequences for the cooperation- and conservation areas will be considered.