1. Policy & Management

Wadden Sea World Heritage

In cooperation with many stakeholders on governmental and NGO level, an Action Plan for the communication of the Wadden Sea World Heritage has been developed for the period until the Wadden Sea Conference on Sylt in March 2010.

The plan consists of four themes, namely the further development of the World Heritage website portal, the development of a corporate design, the development of the tourism strategy as requested by the World Heritage Committee and the, as well as information and awareness activities. During this period also the enhancement of the collaboration between the stakeholders is an essential issue.

On 30 November 2009, a further stakeholder workshop was held to discuss the progress with the implementation of the action plan and to discuss, on the basis of the experiences of the past period, the elements of a common work program for the period 2010 - 13 including the organization around the future work. Concrete activities which have been agreed on for 2010 are the development of a common World Heritage campaign to be launched in spring 2010 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the World Heritage designation and a contribution at the German "Reisepavillon" fair in Berlin on 22 - 25 April 2010. Another focus will be the cooperation with all Wadden Sea visitor centers to elaborate joint information and education offers for the World Heritage Site.

The next stakeholder workshop is planned in Bad Nieuweschans on 22 February 2010 to further elaborate the common campaign 2010 and the action plan 2010 - 2013

Further information about the World Heritage: http://www.waddensea-worldheritage.org/

Cooperation with Korea on protection of tidal flat ecosystems

In the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Wadden Sea - Korea, a partnership-consolidating event between Korea and the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation was organized in Korea on 17 - 25 October 2009. It consisted of a 2-day workshop (19 - 20 October) which was attended by about 100 participants and a 4-day field trip (18 & 21 - 23 October) to the tidal flats at the Korean west coast. The Wadden Sea delegation consisted of 12 persons from ministries and agencies, research institutes, visitor centers, tourism organization, the International Wadden Sea School, and the Wadden Sea Forum.

As a result of the workshop, it was agreed for the next period of cooperation to focus on capacity building activities especially with regard to monitoring (development of monitoring and assessment concepts, scientific networks, monitoring methods, e.g. for birds and benthos monitoring) and information / education in cooperation with the visitor centers and the International Wadden Sea School (IWSS),such as practical courses, training of guides and teachers These activities should be carried out in Korea in order to involve as many participants as possible from the Korean side. A Korean delegation will participate at the Trilateral Governmental Conference on Sylt in March 2010 to plan the next steps of the MOU work program in 2010 and the following years

The visit was an excellent opportunity for the Wadden Sea delegation to experience the Korean tidal flats and to get a better knowledge about monitoring, management and environmental education in Korea. It was also valuable in implementing the MoU, identifying future fields of cooperation and setting priorities for joint activities.

http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/trilat/international/international.html

2. Research & Monitoring

Populations of Harbour Seals and Grey Seals have increased

The Trilateral Seal Expert Group (TSEG) has published their annual reports on harbour and grey seals in 2009. Both species show an increasing trend in their population size. The annual reports are available onthe CWSS website:
http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/news/news/Seals/Annual-reports/seals2009.html http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/news/news/Seals/Annual-reports/greyseals2009.html

A total of 21,571 harbour seals were counted in the Wadden Sea area 2009, which is a plus of more than 1,300 animals compared to 2008. The development of the seal numbers indicate that the population is still growing. Although the population is not increasing as strong as in the previous years, the numbers of 2009 are the highest numbers ever counted.

The number of grey seals counted in the Netherlands, Lower-Saxony, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and on Helgoland amounted to a total of 2756 animals. This represents a 26 % increase since 2008.

Wadden Sea Quality Status Report 2009

The Quality Status Report 2009 (QSR 2009) was prepared to update the findings of the QSR 2004 and to provide input into the Trilateral Governmental Conference on Sylt on 18 March 2010. The work was coordinated by the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat and the Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Group. Over 115 scientists from the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark have contributed to this project during 2008-2009 and prepared 30 thematic reports which have now been published on the TMAP website:

http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/QSR-2009/index.htm

Season's Greetings

The team of the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Best wishes for Health, Happiness and Prosperity to you and your family.