Onto new frontiers: Results of the Sylt Conference,
18 March
2010
Wadden Sea World Heritage
 The signing of the joint Ministerial Declaration by Parliamentary
State Secretary Ursula Heinen-Esser of the Federal Ministry for the Environment,
Germany, chair of the Conference; Karen Ellemann, Minister of Environment,
Denmark and Gerda Verburg, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the
Netherlands concluded a very successful and productive Wadden Sea Conference on
the Wadden island of Sylt on 18 March 2010. The Conference was the 11th
Trilateral Governmental Conference in the framework of the Dutch-German-Danish
cooperation on the protection of the Wadden Sea, the world's largest tidal
barrier island system, since the first Conference in The Hague in 1978.
In June 2009, the Dutch-German Wadden Sea was inscribed on the World Heritage
List. The nomination has been a tremendous success and been embraced by the
region. Denmark was not able to nominate its parts because of the ongoing
process of establishing a national part for its Wadden Sea. The ministers agreed
to start in the forthcoming period a possible nomination of the Danish Wadden
Sea and the nomination of the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park for inclusion on
the World Heritage List.
The ministers also supported the further extension of the communication and
the marketing around the Wadden Sea World Heritage. Within the next year a
tourism marketing strategy will be developed together with the tourism industry
to further sustainable tourism and marketing of the World Heritage Site.
A revised Wadden Sea Plan was also adopted. The 2010 Wadden Sea Plan updates
the trilateral policies and management since the first Wadden Sea Plan was
adopted at the 8th Conference in Stade in 1997. The Wadden Sea Plan constitutes
the common framework for the protection and sustainable management of the Wadden
Sea as an ecological entity. It is also the common management plan for the
Wadden Sea World Heritage Site.
In addition to agreements to enhance the international cooperation to protect
the migratory birds, for which the Wadden Sea is a key site, climate, sea level
rise, coastal protection and alien species were high up on the minister's
agenda. Climate change and its consequences such as enhanced sea level rise,
increased temperatures, and increasing sediment deficits will have impacts on
the ecology and landscape of the Wadden Sea and may affect the safety of the
inhabitants. It was agreed that there is a further need to strengthen the
natural processes of the Wadden Sea in order to cope with such changes and to
further cooperate in developing common strategies and enhancing the knowledge.
For invasive species, which is an issue of concern for all parts of the Wadden
Sea, a common approach will also be developed in the coming period.
Shipping safety was again on the agenda. It remains an issue which is of
great concern for the region since an accident can have potentially enormous
impact, ecologically and economically. It is of the highest priority that safety
is kept on a high level and that everything is done to prevent accidents. The
ministers agreed to a number of actions in this field including to continue to
raise the awareness of the significance of the Wadden Sea amongst the maritime
sector.
A highlight of the Conference was the signing of the 2010 Joint Declaration
on the Protection of the Wadden Sea in a formal signing ceremony at the Kurhaus
in Westerland. The 2010 Joint Declaration replaces the Joint Declaration, signed
at the 1982 Wadden Sea Conference in Copenhagen, which had become progressively
outdated. It will not alter the spirit or legal status of the Cooperation. This
will remain a formal (but not legally binding) Cooperation between the
governments of the three countries. In conjunction with the signing of the 2010
Joint Declaration new governance structures will be launched and replace the
existing structures. The Trilateral Wadden Sea Board is the governing body of
the Cooperation. Peter Ilsøe, Denmark, was appointed by the ministers as the
first chairman of the Board.
The Sylt Conference introduced a new element into the Wadden Sea Conference.
During the open session of the Conference an interactive discussion with the
ministers, stakeholders and guests on “A Vision for the Wadden Sea - Steps to
Achievement” was held. The overall objective for this session was to encourage
all participants that they have a part to play in achieving the vision for the
Wadden Sea. The session was moderated by Dr. Andy Brown who had earlier
evaluated the Cooperation and had gained a considerable knowledge of the
Cooperation. This session was much appreciated by the participants because it
was felt that this was a central function of the Conferences: To obtain the good
ideas and commitment of key stakeholders for the protection of the Wadden Sea,
and a fruitful continuation of the Wadden Sea Cooperation.
The Sylt Conference was a milestone in the Wadden Sea Cooperation. One of the
most productive periods of the cooperation was concluded with a new foundation
for the Cooperation and new and pioneering future objectives.
The chair of the Cooperation has now been transferred to Denmark for the next
three-year period until 2013.
Further information about the conference:
http://www.waddensea-secretariat.org/tgc/TGC-Sylt-2010.html | 