Foreword
The adoption of the Stade Declaration
and the Wadden Sea Plan mark two decades of nature cooperation
between The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is a token of
twenty years of joint responsibility for the protection of a
nature area of outstanding importance, both national and international.
During the first decade of the trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation
the emphasis was on the protection of birds and seals.
By the end of the eighties a start was made with a more integrated
approach to nature conservation. At the 6th Governmental Wadden
Sea Conference, Esbjerg 1991, the whole range of human activities
in the Wadden Sea was addressed. Three years later, at the Leeuwarden
Conference, the regulation of human use was embedded in a system
of ecological targets for all typical Wadden Sea habitats.
The adoption by the 8th Wadden Sea Conference in Stade, Germany,
1997, of the Stade Declaration and the Trilateral Wadden Sea
Plan, may be valued as the accumulated achievement of almost
twenty years of political cooperation on international nature
conservation.
The Stade Conference is at the same time the starting point of
a new phase in the trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation which will
be dedicated to the integration of nature conservation and human
use on the basis of the common Targets and the catalogue of measures
for achieving the Targets as laid down in the Trilateral Wadden
Sea Plan.
The active involvement of all stakeholders in this process is
one of the major challenges for the years to come. Our efforts
to protect and develop the area in a sustainable way can only
succeed if all those who work and live in the area, are committed
to this objective.
A start with this involvement was made during the public discussions
accompanying the preparation of the Wadden Sea Plan. We thank
all those who have actively taken part in these discussions.
Angela Merkel
Svend Auken
Josias van Aartsen
Stade
Declaration
The MINISTERS responsible for the protection
of the Wadden Sea Area (1) of Denmark, The Netherlands
and the Federal Republic of Germany met at the 8th Trilateral
Governmental Conference on the Protection of the Wadden Sea (the
Stade Conference) in Stade on 22 October 1997 to reinforce, further
develop and enhance their joint cooperation, building upon the
agreements made at previous Wadden Sea Conferences, in particular,
at the Esbjerg Conference, 1991, and the Leeuwarden Conference,
1994.
(1) The Wadden Sea Area
is the Trilateral Area of Cooperation as defined in§9 of
the Leeuwarden Declaration.
They note the progress made in the
protection of the Wadden Sea since the Leeuwarden Conference
in 1994 as entailed in the Progress Report. They reaffirm that
efforts must continuously be made to conserve and protect the
area for coming generations in accordance with AGENDA 21(2)
and the Convention on Biological Diversity and that the implementation
of agreed policies and measures must be undertaken in dialog
with the stakeholders.
(2) Chapter 17 on the
"Protection of oceans, all kinds of seas, including semi-enclosed
seas, and coastal areas and the protection, rational use and
development of their living resources" and chapter 15 on
the "Conservation of biological diversity".
The Wadden Sea Area is an area of outstanding
ecological importance. They acknowledge their global responsibility
for this area. The Wadden Sea Area is also an area where people
live, work and recreate. Safety of the inhabitants is of utmost
importance. Conditions for sustainable economic developments
must be maintained.
There is a close interrelationship
between the Wadden Sea Area and its surroundings. On the one
hand, areas adjacent to the Wadden Sea Area can benefit from
the values of the Wadden Sea. On the other hand, developments
and activities outside the Wadden Sea Area may have an impact
on the values of the Wadden Sea Area. The benefits should be
improved and the negative impacts addressed.
They acknowledge the statements submitted
by the non-governmental organisations, the Joint Statement of
the Dutch-German-Danish Wadden Sea Advisory Councils, the Joint
Statement of the Inter-regional Wadden Sea Cooperation and the
common resolutions of the Dutch-German-Danish Wadden Sea Island
Cooperation as valuable contributions to inspire, stimulate and
advance the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation.
They appreciate the efforts made by
the Inter-regional Wadden Sea Cooperation to contribute to the
work of the trilateral cooperation, in particular, with regard
to the issues of environmental impact assessment and sustainable
tourism and acknowledge that the close collaboration has been
of mutual benefit.
They appreciate the work carried out
so far by the QSR Group in preparing the Wadden Sea Quality Status
Report and take note of the assessment of the Wadden Sea ecosystem
as entailed in the Assessment Report.
The Ministers, in the exercise of their
political responsibilities, AGREE on the following (3):
(3) Throughout this Declaration
the term 'agree' is to be understood as defined in this paragraph.
1 The Ministers AGREE to adopt the
Wadden Sea Plan in Annex I, elaborated in accordance with the
Leeuwarden Declaration, entailing the common policies, measures,
projects and actions of the countries for their joint efforts
to fulfill the Targets.
2 The Ministers AGREE to consider and,
where necessary, amend the Wadden Sea Plan at the next Trilateral
Wadden Sea Conference in accordance with the procedure outlined
in the Plan and the Leeuwarden Declaration.
3 The Ministers ACKNOWLEDGE that the
success of implementing the Wadden Sea Plan, a.o., depends on
the extent to which relevant authorities, interest groups and
local citizens contribute to the realization of the policies
and measures.
4 Inhabitants, users, visitors and
all stakeholders in the Wadden Sea region are invited to provide
their ideas and inputs through the Wadden Sea Plan to the implementation
of the Targets.
5 The Ministers URGE the competent
national authorities to maintain or intensify their cooperative
dialogue with all stakeholders involved, in order to promote
public acceptance of the Wadden Sea Plan and thus to promote
the idea of sustainable use of the natural resources of the Wadden
Sea Area, for the long-term benefit of everyone living and working
in the Wadden Sea Area. This includes the information of the
local population in the national languages.
6 The Ministers WELCOME the suggestions
presented during the Conference and the resolutions of the non-governmental
organisations, the Dutch-German-Danish Wadden Sea Advisory Councils,
the Inter-regional Wadden Sea Cooperation and the Dutch-Danish
Wadden Sea Island Cooperation and EMPHASIZE that these suggestions
should be further taken into consideration in the above mentioned
dialogue with all stakeholders.
7 The Ministers RECOGNIZE the important
contribution different types of co-management schemes can make
in appropriate circumstances, at various levels and in many aspects
of Wadden Sea management and WELCOME further research in this
field.
8 The Ministers STRESS the fundamental
need to protect the local population against storm floods and
they take care that the implementation of the Wadden Sea Plan
will not impair safety standards.
9 The Ministers ACKNOWLEDGE the responsibility
of the Wadden Sea States to maintain the safety on international
and national shipping routes and they ENCOURAGE the competent
authorities, which are responsible for safe and easy access to
sea ports and their management, to take into account the recommendations
of the Wadden Sea Plan.
10 The Ministers URGE the competent
national authorities to exchange views and to communicate with
all stakeholders involved in the implementation of the Wadden
Sea Plan, and they EXPECT the local population and local communities
to be actively involved in the formulation of proposals, which
will be taken into consideration at the next Wadden Sea Conference
and which will improve and bring the Wadden Sea Plan up-to-date.
11 The Ministers AGREE that the implementation
of the Wadden Sea Plan will be evaluated and assessed carefully
during the coming years and that a progress report be submitted
to the next Wadden Sea Conference, providing the basis for the
further development of the Wadden Sea Plan. Special consideration
should be given to the islands in the Wadden Sea Area. The Ministers
PUT their senior officials IN CHARGE of supervising the assessment
and evaluation of the implementation of the Plan.
12 The Ministers REGARD the Wadden
Sea Plan as a good example of international cooperation on a
shared nature area and ENDORSE its submission to appropriate
international conferences in the field of environmental and nature
cooperation.
13 The Ministers HIGHLIGHT the fact
that the quality of the Wadden Sea Area may be influenced significantly
by activities taking place outside or pollution stemming from
sources outside the Wadden Sea Area. The Ministers REGARD the
large areas of "black spots" in the East Frisian Wadden
Sea during 1996 as a sign of impairment of the decomposition
capacity of the benthic system, one of the major functions of
the Wadden Sea ecosystem. The Ministers, therefore, AGREE that
the three countries will join their efforts within international
fora, as well as, in negotiations with other parties towards
fulfilling the following goals:
Reduction of inputs
of nutrients, hazardous substances and oil
14 They RECOGNIZE the importance of
the catchment areas of the debouching rivers for the quality
of water, sediment and marine habitats and ACKNOWLEDGE that the
total load of hazardous substances and phosphorus compounds entering
the Wadden Sea Area via the rivers has been reduced considerably
during the last 10 years but that oil pollution from shipping
is still a problem.
15 They INSIST that the total load
of nutrients entering the Wadden Sea Area must be reduced significantly.
Existing international agreements and EU regulations in this
field must be implemented rigorously. Especially important are
the following measures:
- to equip, as soon as possible, waste water treatment plants
in the catchment area of the North Sea and Wadden Sea with nutrient
treatment stages;
- to promote extensification of agricultural practices - also
through EU-programs - and to reduce ammonia emissions from agriculture;
- to reduce emissions from traffic.
They UNDERLINE that the reduction of
inputs of hazardous substances and oil needs to be continued
and that specific efforts need to be undertaken in the adjacent
ports and in all river systems entering the Wadden Sea. The pollution,
especially by oil from shipping, needs further reduction, in
particular, by providing cost effective and customer-friendly
port reception facilities.
Activities in the
adjacent area
17 They strongly URGE all competent
authorities to consider the common interests of the Wadden Sea
Area and to reduce, where this is necessary, the environmental
impacts of, in particular, harbor and industrial facilities,
recreation, civil air traffic, military activities, wind energy,
agriculture and traffic, inter alia by taking specifically into
account, in EIA procedures, the needs of the Wadden Sea ecosystem,
the Common Principles and relevant EU Directives. Moreover, in
dealing with such activities and in applying relevant national
and EU regulations, decision makers should strive for both a
net social benefit and a net positive ecological outcome.
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EC Bird and Habitat Directives |
18 The Ministers NOTE that major parts
of the Wadden Sea Area have been listed as a habitat area by
the competent authorities in accordance with Art. 4 of the EC
Habitat Directive and/or Art. 4 of the EC Bird Directive and
that the list has been transmitted to the European Commission.
The Schleswig-Holstein part of the Wadden Sea has also been prepared
to be nominated as Special Protection Area under the EC Bird
Directive as the last remaining part of the Wadden Sea Area.
A majority of the Wadden Sea Area is hence, now part of NATURA
2000.
19 The Ministers RECOGNIZE that there
are differences in the delimitations of the listed areas and,
therefore, AGREE to work further towards a more coherent Natura
2000 area for the Wadden Sea.
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Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment
Program |
20 The Ministers APPRECIATE the work
exercised by the Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Working
Group (TMAG) in elaborating the report on the "Implementation
of the Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Program (TMAP)"
in fulfillment of §67 of the Leeuwarden Declaration. The
work has been carried out in the framework of the DEMOWAD-project
co-financed by the European Commission under the LIFE Program.
21 The Ministers AGREE to implement
the common package of parameters as in Annex 2 and, to this end,
establish, as soon as possible, the necessary financial and organizational
preconditions for its implementation, including the associated
data management.
22 The Ministers AGREE to an evaluation
of experiences with this common package at the next Wadden Sea
Conference.
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Particularly Sensitive Sea Area Wadden
Sea |
23 The Ministers NOTE the progress
being made within the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
to reduce the environmental impact of shipping on sensitive sea
areas like the Wadden Sea, especially with the mandatory routeing
measures for oil- and chemical tankers off the Dutch and German
Wadden Sea coast.
The Ministers NOTE that all relevant
measures have been taken inside the Wadden Sea Area or in the
adjacent area according to the conditions for Particularly Sensitive
Sea Areas (PSSAs) as required by the IMO.
25 The Ministers ENDORSE a study on
the possibilities for a proposal to the IMO to designate the
Wadden Sea and an adjacent zone as Particularly Sensitive Sea
Area (PSSA).
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Environmental Impact Assessment |
26 The Ministers WELCOME the work carried
out by the Interregional Wadden Sea Cooperation (IRWC) pursuant
to §§ 26-27 of the Leeuwarden Declaration and its decisions
with regard to Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs).
27 The Ministers INVITE relevant competent
authorities, when deciding on thresholds and/or criteria for
Annex II projects of EC Directive 97/11/EEC, to give special
consideration to the significant effects these projects are likely
to have on the Wadden Sea Area.
28 The Ministers AGREE on their intention,
when applying the information and consultation procedures of
the ECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary
Context, to consider the specific vulnerability of the Wadden
Sea Area.
29 The Ministers RECOMMEND that in
the assessment of plans and projects in the Wadden Sea Area,
alternatives should be considered following the EC Habitat Directive.
In this context social and economic aspects should be taken into
account, as appropriate.
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International Cooperation |
The Wash - Wadden
Sea Cooperation
30 The Ministers AGREE to continue
to cooperate by establishing projects in the field of exchange
of information and experiences on monitoring, management of the
common seal population and on establishing an improved collaboration
between management authorities.
Guinea Bissau -
Wadden Sea Cooperation
31 The Ministers AGREE to continue
the collaboration in the context of the Memorandum of Intent
by signing a new three-year work program as in Annex 3 which
continues and builds upon the experiences and results of the
first work program with the aim of finalizing the training of
an ornithological team and to establish an organization to support
and further develop management and public awareness in the area.
Brent Goose Management
Plan
The Ministers INVITE The Netherlands
to proceed with finalizing the preparation of the International
Management Plan for the Brent Goose and prepare the drafts and
attached actions for decisions by the First Meeting of the African-Eurasian
Waterbird Agreement (AEWA).
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Conservation of Seals
and Small Cetaceans |
33 The Ministers ACKNOWLEDGE the Conservation
and Management Plan for the Wadden Sea Seal Population 1996-2000
elaborated and endorsed in the framework of the Seal Agreement
as being the elaboration of the Targets on Common and Grey Seals
entailed in the Wadden Sea Plan.
34 The Ministers WELCOME that a network
will be organized for the collection of information on by-catch
of harbor porpoises in the framework of the Agreement on Small
Cetaceans of the Baltic and the North Sea (ASCOBANS) which is
also relevant for the Wadden Sea Area and the area seaward of
the Wadden Sea Area.
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Cooperation in the Field of Public
Information |
35 The Ministers AGREE to explore possibilities
to enhance the quality of public participation and WELCOME the
initiative of The Netherlands to organize a workshop for that
purpose.
36 The Ministers ACKNOWLEDGE the work
carried out by the Inter-regional Wadden Sea Cooperation regarding
the analysis and visions of sustainable tourism development and
recreational use in the Wadden Sea region.
The Ministers AGREE to initiate interregional
cooperation to develop and implement policies on sustainable
tourism, together with relevant stakeholders, as well as, local
and other relevant authorities. They INVITE the Inter-regional
Wadden Sea Cooperation to carry out this task.
37 The Ministers TAKE NOTE of the results
of the workshop on Cultural Heritage held in Ribe, Denmark and
DECIDE that the planned mapping of cultural heritage in the Wadden
Sea Area will be extended to relevant adjacent parts of the Wadden
Sea Area.
Scientific Wadden
Sea Symposium
38 The 10th International Scientific
Wadden Sea Symposium will be held at the invitation of the Dutch
Government.
9th Wadden Sea Conference
Denmark will chair the cooperation
from January 1, 1998. The 9th Wadden Sea Conference will be held
in Denmark in 2001.
For the Government of the Federal
Republic of Germany
Dr. A. Merkel
For the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark
Mr. S. Auken
For the Government of the Kingdom of The Netherlands
Mr. J. F. de Leeuw
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Stade Declaration
ANNEX 1
THE
TRILATERAL WADDEN SEA PLAN
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Stade Declaration
ANNEX 2
Common Package TMAP
The parameters in the Common Package will be monitored according
to the agreed common TMAP
Guidelines.
|
Contaminants |
1 |
TBT in water and sediment |
|
2 |
Metals in sediment |
|
Nutrients |
3 |
Inorganic nutrients in water |
|
Salt Marshes |
4 |
Spatial extension |
|
5 |
Agricultural utilization: grazing |
|
Benthos |
6 |
Macroalgae |
|
7 |
Eelgrass |
|
8 |
Macrozoobenthos communities |
|
9 |
Blue Mussel beds |
|
10 |
Contaminants in Blue Mussel |
|
Plankton |
11 |
Phytoplankton |
|
Fish |
12 |
Contaminants in flounder |
|
13 |
Mussel/Cockle/Shrimp fishery |
|
Beaches and Dunes |
14 |
Spatial extension |
|
Birds |
15 |
Breeding birds: numbers and distribution |
|
16 |
Breeding birds: contaminants in bird eggs |
|
17 |
Migratory birds: numbers of waterbirds
in counting units |
|
18 |
Beached Bird Survey (BBS) |
|
Seals |
19 |
Population parameters by aerial survey |
|
Recreational Activities |
20 |
Boats at sea |
|
21 |
No. of guided tours |
|
22 |
Air traffic |
|
General Parameters |
23 |
Coastal protection measures |
|
24 |
Geomorphology |
|
25 |
Flooding |
|
26 |
Land use |
|
27 |
Weather conditions |
|
28 |
Hydrology |
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Stade Declaration
ANNEX 3
Memorandum of Intent
Guinea-Bissau - Wadden Sea
Work Program 1998 - 2000
AN INTERIM OUTLINE ON
A THREE-YEAR WORK PROGRAM
1998-2000
The program is designed to encourage
an international interchange of knowledge and ideas and to develop
a multi-disciplinary approach to nature protection and management
issues.
The first step of the program will
be to continue to train an ornithological team in Guinea-Bissau
to carry out research and monitoring work, especially in the
field of waders wintering in Guinea-Bissau and migrating to the
Wadden Sea.
The next step of the program will be
to establish an organization for ornithological research, monitoring
and public information in Guinea-Bissau, which will be able to
continue the work initiated.
Project
1
Subject:
Research, monitoring and surveys on waterbirds and important
bird areas in Guinea-Bissau
Objective:
To train an ornithological
team in Guinea-Bissau to carry out the following tasks:
