Beyond World Heritage

Long before the Wadden Sea was awarded World Heritage status, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands had started working hand in hand to make sure that future generations can enjoy this unique landscape as much as we do today. Since 1978 the Trilateral Cooperation on the Protection of the Wadden Sea, in short Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation (TWSC), has served as the framework, within which the three Wadden Sea states and their partners, such as national parks, regional and local administration as well as NGOs, collaborate under the Guiding Principle, which is to

“achieve, as far as possible, a natural and sustainable ecosystem in which natural processes proceed in an undisturbed way.”

The Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS) supports, facilitates and coordinates the Cooperation.

As nature does not stop at borders, the TWSC fosters international connections to other important nature sites such as the Korean tidal flat system Getbol and important migratory bird sites along the East Atlantic Flyway.

Video introduction to the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation

The video below is a production of the IUCN Environmental Law Programme in the framework of its programme “Building Capacity on Protected Areas Law and Governance”.