Wadden Sea National Parks
Encyclopedia
The Wadden Sea National Parks, part of a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
, are located along the German
coast of the North Sea
. Named after the Wadden Sea
, they consist of three national park
s:
These national parks are divided from each other for administrative reasons, but they form a single ecological entity. The purpose of the national parks is the protection of the Wadden Sea ecoregion.
The national parks form part of the Wadden Sea UNESCO
World Heritage Site
.
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, are located along the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
coast of the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. Named after the Wadden Sea
Wadden Sea
The Wadden Sea is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It is rich in biological diversity...
, they consist of three national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
s:
- Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National ParkSchleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National ParkThe Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park is a national park in the Schleswig-Holstein area of the German Wadden Sea. It was founded by the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein on 1 October 1985 by the National Park Act of 22 July 1985 and expanded significantly in 1999...
, comprising the west coast of Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
and the North Frisian IslandsNorth Frisian IslandsThe North Frisian Islands are a group of islands in the Wadden Sea, a part of the North Sea, off the western coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The German islands are in the traditional region of North Frisia and are part of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park and the Kreis of... - Hamburg Wadden Sea National ParkHamburg Wadden Sea National ParkThe Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park is an exclave of the city state of Hamburg in North Germany and lies 12.5 km off Cuxhaven in the estuary of the Elbe in the North Sea . This part of the Wadden Sea lies inside the area of the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park and also includes the...
, extending from the mouth of the ElbeElbeThe Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
to the tiny islands of NeuwerkNeuwerkNeuwerk is a Wadden Sea island on the German North Sea coast and a homonymous quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany, in the borough Hamburg-Mitte...
and Scharhörn, part of HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808... - Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park, comprising the northern coast of Lower SaxonyLower SaxonyLower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
and including the East Frisian IslandsEast Frisian IslandsThe East Frisian Islands are a chain of islands in the North Sea, off the coast of East Frisia in Lower Saxony, Germany. The islands extend for some from west to east between the mouths of the Ems and Jade / Weser rivers and lie about 3.5 to 10 km offshore...
These national parks are divided from each other for administrative reasons, but they form a single ecological entity. The purpose of the national parks is the protection of the Wadden Sea ecoregion.
The national parks form part of the Wadden Sea UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
See also
- Wadden SeaWadden SeaThe Wadden Sea is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It is rich in biological diversity...
- Wadden Sea Conservation StationWadden Sea Conservation StationThe Wadden Sea Conservation Station is a non-profit, NGO in North Germany. The organisation was founded in 1962 and, since then, has been one of the official NGO partners of the Wadden Sea National Parks...
External links
- Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park (German)
- Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park (German)
- Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park (German)
- Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park, tourism site (German, English)
- Schutzstation Wattenmeer (German)
- Wattenrat Ost-Friesland (German)
- Association of all the Wadden Sea Island Municipalities in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany(English)