Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information The Wadden Sea is a major breeding, staging, wintering, feeding and moulting area for huge numbers of many duck, goose, wader, gull and tern species. No numbers are given for breeding birds as most nest in immediately adjacent IBAs. This complex site was not taken into account for the application of C6 criterion (`five most important sites in NUTS region'), because of its close proximity to adjacent sites (002-014, 016-017).

Site description Together with the Danish and German sections, the Wadden Sea (Waddenzee) is the largest intertidal area in Europe. Important habitats of the ecosystem include mudflats, sandflats, saltmarshes, shallowly submerged sandbanks, and estuaries. The Dutch section is bounded by the Waddeneilanden and the mainland. It was separated from Lake IJsselmeer (site 034) in 1932 and from the Lauwerszee (015) in 1969. The Wadden Sea IBA includes the main part of the intertidal system but the main isles (005, 009), the bays (013, 017) and the saltmarshes/forelands (002-004, 006-008, 010-014, 016) have been considered as separate sites. The area covered by the Wadden Sea Memorandum (national policy paper), of which the boundary is determined by the mean of the annual maximum high-water mark, overlaps with these sites and has a total area of 272,100 ha. Human activities include extraction of natural gas and of sand, and shellfish fisheries.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Duinen Ameland - NL2003057	Habitats Directive	2,016	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Duinen Ameland - NL3009005	Birds Directive	2,055	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Duinen Schiermonnikoog - NL2003058	Habitats Directive	1,021	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Duinen Schiermonnikoog - NL3009006	Birds Directive	1,043	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Duinen Terschelling - NL2003059	Habitats Directive	5,101	protected area overlaps with site	239
Duinen Terschelling - NL3009007	Birds Directive	3,221	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Duinen Texel - NL3009008	Birds Directive	3,102	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Duinen Texel, Waal en Burg, Dijkmanshuizen en De Bol - NL2003060	Habitats Directive	4,657	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Duinen Vlieland - NL2003061	Habitats Directive	1,532	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Duinen Vlieland - NL3009009	Birds Directive	1,398	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Eems-Dollard - NL2007001	Habitats Directive	4,153	protected area contained by site	4,153
Noordzeekustzone - NL2003062	Habitats Directive	24,838	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Noordzeekustzone - NL9802001	Birds Directive	123,646	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Noordzeekustzone II - NL2008004	Habitats Directive	118,658	protected area is adjacent to site	0
Waddensea Area	UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve	260,000	protected area contains site	233,855
Waddenzee (Wadden Sea)	Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar)	249,998	protected area contains site	233,855
Waddenzee - NL1000001	Habitats Directive	259,214	protected area overlaps with site	263,050
Waddenzee - NL9801001	Birds Directive	272,027	protected area overlaps with site	270,756
Waddenzee I	Natural Monument	125,000	protected area overlaps with site	108,000
Waddenzee II	Natural Monument	80,000	protected area overlaps with site	79,700

Habitats

Land use

Management considerations Mechanical fishing of cockles Cardium by suction dredging, military training, recreation, and gas extraction are the main threats to the area. Cockle fishing affects the food resources of birds such as Somateria mollissima and Haematopus ostralegus and destroys the sediment structure, while all long-established banks of mussels Mytilus have been removed, and the recovery of eel-grass Zostera is hindered. The Special Protection Area and the Ramsar designation cover the whole of this site although the area-sizes given in the designation orders are much less. The two Natural Monuments together cover about 85% of the area, including all of the saltmarshes and most of the intertidal flats. The current management plan covers the period 1996-2001.

Protection status National Partial International HighAbout 108,000 ha of IBA covered by Natural Monument (Waddenzee I, 125,000 ha). 79,700 ha of IBA covered by Natural Monument (Waddenzee II, 80,000 ha). 233,855 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Waddenzee, `250,000 ha' [official, incorrect figure]). 233,855 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Waddenzee, `250,000 ha' [official, incorrect figure]). 233,855 ha of IBA covered by Biosphere Reserve (Waddenzee, 260,000 ha).

Related state of the world's birds case studies

• Commercial shellfisheries can negatively impact migratory waterbirds

Contribute  Please click here to help BirdLife conserve the world's birds - your data for this IBA and others are vital for helping protect the environment.

Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Wadden Sea. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/05/2013

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife