National Wadden Sea Policy

Dutch policy with respect to the wadden region is written up in numerous policy documents: the Key Planning Decision Wadden Sea (PKB), the establishment of the State Nature Reserve Wadden Sea (falling under the Nature Protection Act), the Fisheries Act, the Flora and Fauna Act and the Interprovincial Policy Plan for the Wadden Sea. A number of inspection vessels are active on the tidal flats for supervising and enforcing the rules.

Ninety percent of the Wadden Sea has been designated as a State Monument. Fishery activities must fit in with the nature protection policy. That means that the effects of the fisheries on the values of nature must be taken into account: the benthic life, the marine mammals and the food supply for the birds. Undesired effects from the fisheries must be reversed through limitations.

For the Netherlands, the Key Planning Decision Wadden Sea (PKB) has bearing upon all ground which is flooded during high tide in the Wadden Sea. This includes the salt marshes (such as the Boschplaat on Terschelling and Nieuwlandsreid on Ameland), beach plains (such as the Hors on Texel and the Rif on Schiermonnikoog) and uninhabited islands, such as Rottumeroog and Griend. The North Sea beach on the islands and the sandbanks outside of the Wadden Sea, such as the Razende Bol, do not fall under the protected area. The areas within the PKB region are protected to various degrees. The State Nature Reserves are the most strictly protected: Article 17 of the Nature Protection Act states that these regions are not open to the public. Furthermore, there are areas which come under a milder Article 16 of the Nature Protection Act. There is free entry, however activities which obviously disrupt nature can be excluded. And finally, the heavily navigated channels and the likes do not fall under the Nature Protection Act. Only the general regulations from the PKB are operative for these areas.

A section of the Wadden Sea belonging to the State Nature Reserves was proclaimed by the Ministry for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in 1996 as a designated area which will fall under the Habitat Directive of the European Community. One is still negotiating a supplement for the valuable areas of the Wadden Sea which do not yet fall under the Nature Protection Act: the main shipping lanes, the tidal inlets, the strokes under the inhabited islands and the military training grounds. The dunes on the islands would also come under the Habitat Directive.

The important conditions for the fisheries in the wadden region are laid down in the Structure Report for Sea and Coastal Fisheries.

Extremely Vulnerable Area

The status of Extremely Vulnerable Area given to the Wadden Sea by the United Nations after the Ministers Conference in Esbjerg in 2001 was not a reason for the Undersecretary of State to take extra measures. The status is noted on navigational charts and sailors are alerted to the new status.

World Heritage

The variouos Wadden Sea countries want to place the Wadden Sea on the list of World Heritage. This would mean world-wide recognition. It would also mean tremendous appreciation for the manner in which the residents and users have lived and worked with the Wadden Sea.

Most of the wadden towns and the Chambers of Commerce are against placement on the list of World Heritage. They are afraid for stricter economic rules.

Waddenfonds

In 2004, the cabinet decided to stop the cockle fisheries and allow gas exploitation in the Wadden Sea. The profits from the gas would be partially used for nature protection, research and economic developments. As soon as a judicial ban on gas exploitation comes due to environmental lobbyists, then the flow of funding for the Waddenfonds will dry up. This means that no objections for the exploitation can be submitted, otherwise it will have consequences for the Waddenfonds. The Waddenvereniging has said that they are prepared to stop submitting objections under the circumstances. Exploitation started in 2007.

Via the Waddenfonds, 800 million euros will be made available in a period of twenty years. for the wadden region. The total funding will only be given to the Waddenfond when the licenses for gas exploitation are irrevocable. The Parliament want to use half of the money for economic projects and the other half for nature plans. The Minister for Environmental Planning wants to give the cockle fishermen 115 million euros, the Wadden Academy 27 million euros and use 41 million euros to preventing ship disasters and influences of the greenhouse effect. The rest of the money (617 million) must be spent mostly on nature projects, some on economic projects whereby initiators can submit modern plans which fit in a vulnerable nature area and yet still strengthen the economy.

The first projects with funding from the Waddenfonds were designated in May 2008.

Weblinks

For more information about a Geographic Information System (GIS), see: http://web.ulib.csuohio.edu/gis/DL_gis1.htm.

Overview of the policy (Dutch):
http://www.vrom.nl/pagina.html?id=9272

Overview of the departments involved with administrating the wadden region (Dutch):
http://www.waddenzee.nl (button 'bestuur')

Reports and ordinances on provincial level (Dutch):
http://www.waddenprovincies.nl/index.php

Source: de Vleet, Ecomare