1. Policy & Management

Trilateral Workshop on Goose Management in Ribe, 19 – 20 November 2008

The proper management of geese is an issue of increasing relevance in Wadden Sea Region. On the one hand geese "belong" to the area and are a typical element of the Wadden Sea Region biodiversity. They also constitute an important touristic attraction. On the other hand, some goose species cause increasing damage to farmlands, whereas compensation payment schemes for farmers are considered insufficient and inflexible.

In September 2007 a trilateral geese management workshop was held in Rastede, Germany, organised by the agricultural organisations represented in the Wadden Sea Forum (WSF). This workshop resulted in the submission of a letter by WSF to the EU Committee of the Regions, requesting attention for the problem, in particular with regard to EU regulations.

With the aim of continuing the discussion on finding proper solutions to the problem, both from the agriculture and nature protection perspectives, the trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation, together with the Wadden Sea Forum, have organised a workshop in Ribe, Denmark, 19-20 November 2008.

Main themes to be addressed at the workshop are:

• The development of goose populations and (changed) behaviour:
• State of the art with regard to goose management
• Perspectives for future management

More information:
dejong@waddensea-secretariat.org

Covenant on mussel fisheries in the Netherlands

The Dutch Administrative Court ruled earlier this year, that the 2006 license for seed mussel fisheries in the Dutch Wadden Sea should not have been issued because there was insufficient scientific proof that the activity would not adversely affect the site. Following the ruling, the responsible Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) has announced that it will further specify the conservation objectives for Habitat type 1110 (sublittoral). Additionally,scientific research into the natural values of the sublittoral and effects of seed mussel fishing will be intensified.

Furthermore, on 21 October 2008, a covenant was agreed between the Ministry, the mussel fisheries sector and three nature NGOs, setting out the main principles for a nature restoration program and a transition towards sustainable fisheries. The parties to the covenant share the view that the mussel sector is entitled to a future perspective and that they will strive for a recovery of littoral and sublittoral mussel beds.

The parties agree to cooperate in the transition of the sector and not to make use of court cases to solve differences of opinion. The transition must lead to a situation in which the fisheries sector is less dependent upon fishing seed mussels in the Wadden Sea.

Another focal point of the covenant is that a nature recovery programme will be developed that will be included in the Natura2000 management plan.

The full text of the covenant (in Dutch) is available at
http://www.waddenzee.nl/fileadmin/content/Dossiers/Visserij/pdf/21102008_convenantmossel.pdf

The Wadden Sea at the Ramsar COP10 conference in Korea

An international symposium on intertidal wetlands was held on 27 October as a supporting event of the 10th Conference of Parties of the Ramsar convention (Changwon, Korea, on 28 October – 4 November 2008). It was jointly organized by the Korean Tidal Flat Forum (Getbol Forum), the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, BirdLife International and the UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea Project. The symposium was hosted by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and the County of Gyeongnam anddiscussed ecosystem function and services, migratory birds, human life and culture, as well as conservation and management of intertidal wetlands.

In four sessions with 16 talks, speakers from Korea, China, Japan, Australia, India, and the Wadden Sea Countries highlighted the global importance of intertidal wetlands of the Yellow Sea Region. As the Wadden Sea, the Yellow Sea tidal flats, especially at the Korean west coast, are an essential hub for birds of the East-Asian-Australasian flyway. The Yellow Sea is also of outstanding socio-economic value especially for many thousands of artisanal fishers. At the same time, the Yellow Sea is facing a multitude of threats – in particular from ongoing and planned land reclamation.

The symposium underlined that very little of the Yellow Sea intertidal wetlands is protected sufficiently, and none of it on an ecosystem scale, as done in the Wadden Sea. In addition, no further large scale land reclamation should be permitted. It was also stated that the Yellow Sea Project and the East-Asian-Australasia Flyway partnership provide an excellent foundation for conservation. Furthermore, cooperation and exchange of experiences with the Wadden Sea should be developed.

The symposium's conclusions were discussed at a Ramsar side event and were presented to the Ramsar Conference by the organizers. With support from Korea, China and the Wadden Sea countries, the conclusions were included as an Annex to the Ramsar Flyway resolution (Resolution No. 22).

Read more: Report from the symposium and the conclusion on “Importance of intertidal wetlands in the Yellow Sea” (Ramsar Resolution 22).
http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/news/symposia/Korea-2008/EastAsianTidaFlats-2008.html

Korean tidal flats and its shorebirds highly endangered!

Prior to the international symposium on East-Asian Coastal Wetlands on 27 October 2008 (see above), Mr. Klaus Günter (Schutzstation Wattenmeer, Husum, Germany) visited the Korean tidal flats at the west coast, from the almost natural tidal flats of Yubu-Island in the Geum Estuary to the industrial coast of Gunsan city and the Saemangeum reclamation area. The Korean tidal flats are a critical and essential region for migratory shorebirds, providing an irreplaceable stop-over and re-fuelling hub for birds on migration between their breeding grounds in Siberia and wintering grounds in South-east Asia and Australasia. He also saw one of the rarest and most endangered shorebird species on the world: the Spoon-billed Sandpiper – only 100 pairs have been left.

Read more about his trip:
http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/news/symposia/Korea-2008/EastAsianTidaFlats-visits2008.html#Guenther

The 2006 – 2008 Seamangeum Shorebird Monitoring Report Report:
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/10/saemangeum_report.html

Symposium on restoration of coastal wetlands in Korea

Mr. Henk de Vries (It Fryske Gea) attended the international symposium on “Recent progress on Coastal Wetland Restoration”, in Korea on 8 - 9 September 2008 on invitation of Seoul National University. He presented examples from salt marsh restoration projects in the Netherlands “Noard-Fryslân Bûtendyks” which started in 2001. Other presentations were from the United States of America (by the NOAA) and from Japan. The symposium was well visited with about 100 persons in Seoul and about 70 persons in Gochang.

The conclusion of the symposium was that there is much to be restored in Korea. There is a turning point in the approach towards embankments on the national level, however, this has still to be introduced with local governments and that until now there is no compensation for lost tidal flats due to embankments.

Read more:
http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/news/symposia/Korea-2008/EastAsianTidaFlats-visits2008.html#deVries

2. Research & Monitoring

Dutch Wadden Sea Academy has started its work

The Dutch “Waddenacademie”, an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) started its work in July 2008. The academy has the task to coordinate, initiate and facilitate activities in climate, ecological, geological, economic and socio-cultural research areas concerning the Wadden Sea region. The institute will cooperate closely with organisations for research, civil society organisations, agencies and governments, both nationally and internationally. The main objectives are:

• identifying main gaps in knowledge for the sustainable development of the Wadden Sea area and articulating research questions relevant for the Wadden Sea area
• promotion of a coherent research approach at regional, national and international level;
• promotion of information provision and exchange between government, businesses and civil society organisations.

The Wadden academy is financed by the province Fryslan and the Wadden fund, which is managed by the ministry of VROM. The Wadden academy is particularly targeted there for the objective of the Wadden fund for ' sustainable development of the Wadden area’ The Wadden Sea academy consists of five part-time governing board members: Prof. dr. Pavel Kabat (chair), Prof. dr. Jos Bazelmans, Prof. dr. Peter Herman, Dr. Hessel Speelman, Prof. dr. Jouke van Dijk (see photo).

The first symposium of the Waddenacademie on “Kennis voor een duurzame toekomst van de wadden” will be held in Leeuwarden on 1 – 2 Decemer 2008.

http://www.waddenacademie.knaw.nl/Inauguratiesymposium/formulier- test/nieuws/vooraankondiging%20inauguratiesymposium%20Waddenacademie.pdf

More information at:
http://www.waddenacademie.knaw.nl/

3. Trilateral Meetings

Joint Monitoring Groups of Breeding and Migratory Birds (JMBB, JMMB)
18 – 19 November 2008, Hamburg, Germany

Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Group
21 – 22 January 2009. Hamburg, Germany

Trilateral Working Group (TWG)
25 February 2009, Wilhelmshaven, Germany

A complete overview is at:
http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/trilat/meetings/meetings.html

Meetings of the Wadden Sea Forum (WSF) are at:
http://www.waddensea-forum.org/WSFnewCalendar.htm

4. New Publications

ENCORA Workshop, 29-31 October 2008, Ameland, The Netherlands

Within the framework of the European network project ENCORA, coastal zone management experts from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands discussed the issue of carrying capacity and developments in the Wadden Sea. The aim of the meeting, held 29-31 October on Ameland (NL), was to identify ways to handle development issues in a nature conservation area like the Wadden Sea.

The Habitat, Bird and Water Framework Directives oblige EU member states to set objectives for habitat and species quality. Developments within or nearby protected areas can only proceed under special conditions and as long as there is no adverse effect on the objectives. Meeting the legal requirements in estuarine areas presents great challenges when it comes to assessing the potential impacts of projects and activities. These challenges lie in assessing the potential impacts of a project or activity in these highly dynamic environments against a changing baseline due to e.g. climate change.

The meeting concluded that determining the carrying capacity gives guidance to the process of developing adaptive management for a given project or activity. Defining the carrying capacity requires a clear decision-making process, in which all parties are involved at the right time (scientists, stakeholders, general public, policy makers). The existing Trilateral Governmental Conferences offer an excellent platform to agree upon carrying capacity. Although the Wadden Sea has been extensively researched, still a lot of gaps in knowledge exist. At the same time decision-makers need to match objectives from all the different legislations involved. Practical experiences brought in by stakeholders are necessary to confirm whether the objectives are realistic.

More information:
www.encora.eu

Fisheries Management in Marine Protected Areas (EMPAS)

The potential conflicts between fishery and nature conservation were in the focus of an international conference in Stralsund on 3 – 5 November. The results of the ICES/BfN-project entitled "Environmentally Sound Fishery Management in Protected Areas " were presented and discussed at the conference.

The EMPA project was started in ICES in February 2006, based on funding from the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). The main aim of the project is to analyze the potential conflicts between fisheries and conservation objectives and to establish a scientific basis for the development of fisheries management plans for each of ten German NATURA 2000 sites in the EEZ of the North and Baltic Sea.

More information: www.bmu.de and http://www.ices.dk/projects/empas.asp

Science for Nature Conservation and Management: The Wadden Sea ecosystem and the EU Directives

The 12th International Scientific Wadden Sea Symposium will be organized in Wilhelmshaven on 30 March - 3 April 2009 by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Nationalpark Wattenmeer (Niedersachsen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein), and the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS). The scientific conference will focus on how research and monitoring can provide input to conservation and management, by developing new methods and assessment tools. In addition, limitations or gaps in knowledge will be identified. Recommendations will be given on how EU Directives should be applied in future to ensure a harmonized management of the Wadden Sea, based upon an ecosystem approach.

Abstract for papers and posters (max 400 words) should be submitted to the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat not later than 15 November 2008.

More information at:
http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/news/symposia/ISWSS-2009.html

New events

Only new events are listed. A complete list of upcoming events is at:
http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/news/events/otherconf.html

19 - 20 November 2008, Ribe, Denmark
Trilateral Workshop on Goose Management
dejong@waddensea-secretariat.org

1 - 2 December 2008, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands,
Kennis voor een duurzame toekomst van de wadden
Waddenacademie Symposium
http://www.waddenacademie.knaw.nl/

31 March to 2 April 2009, Bonn, Germany
UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development
- Moving into the Second Half of the UN Decade -
http://www.esd-world-conference-2009.org/

4 - 8 May 2009, Liege, Belgium
Science-based management of the coastal waters
41st International Liege Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics
http://modb.oce.ulg.ac.be/colloquium/

07 - 11 September 2009, Liverpool, UK
European Marine Biology Symposium 2009
http://www.liv.ac.uk/marinebiology/embs.html