Global 200 Ecoregions

Europe's Last Coastal Wilderness
Wadden Sea

map of Wadden Sea ecoregion
 
Major Habitat Type
Coastal Marine Ecosystems

Biogeographic Region
North Atlantic Ocean

Location
Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands


Biological Diversity

The People

The Threat

The Response

The Challenge


Summary

The Wadden Sea, Europe's largest coastal wetland and one of its last natural areas, is a shallow sea extending from Den Helder in the Netherlands, along the entire northwest coast of Germany, to Esbjerg in Denmark. There are no definite limits to the Wadden Sea; the area which falls under the cooperative management of the three countries responsible for its immediate welfare - Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands - is 13,500 square kilometres. The current delimitation, however, is still a matter of discussion as it excludes ecologically related areas such as inland marshes. Overall, this is a highly dynamic ecosystem of tidal channels, mud flats, salt marshes (the largest in Europe), beaches, sand dunes, estuaries and offshore islands.

The Wadden Sea's landscape changes constantly under the daily influence of the tides. Channels are formed and reshaped, sandbars suddenly appear offshore and disappear just as rapidly. People too, play a major role in changing the landscape, primarily by altering the shoreline and influencing the flow of some of the major rivers which flow into the North Sea. Other impacts include pollution, fishing, hunting, tourism, and industrial and harbour developments.



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