UNESCO has added the Wadden Sea to its prestigious list of World Heritage Sites. The sea – stretching along the northern coast of the Netherlands and Germany – supports millions of birds, but also hosts various human and industrial activities. While environmental groups are enthusiastic, the fishing community harbours suspicions. 

 

Listen to the report for Earthbeat:

Heritage status
Each year the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) adds to its list of cultural and natural heritage sites around the globe. A panel of experts decides whether or not a site qualifies, based on its perceived uniqueness and value to mankind. The list includes temples, historic cities, coral reefs, archaeological finds – anything considered to be so valuable that it should be preserved for all of mankind, for all eternity.

 

One requirement for inscription on the list is that the site is already protected. Meeting these requirements and lobbying for inscription is a costly and time-consuming process, yet UNESCO does not provide funding for the preservation of the sites on its list. So what good is it to become receive World Heritage status?

In most cases, it depends on who you ask. Many stakeholders revolve around sites such as the Wadden Sea, where in recent years a fierce conflict has been waged between preservation and industrial exploitation.

Wadden Sea
The Wadden Sea is a rare intertidal ecosystem: a sea at high tide, mudflats at low tide. Millions of migratory birds feed on the shrimp, cockles and mussels exposed each time the water recedes. Many species depend on the Wadden Sea – a central justification for the region’s designation as a World Heritage Site.

In the northern province of Friesland, Ruud van Beusekom of BirdLife the Netherlands pointed out a prime bird viewing spot: a high tide roost where thousands of birds flocked to escape the rising water. Species like the bar-tailed godwit are lured to the Wadden Sea’s rich feeding grounds from as far away as Siberia and West Africa.

But those same feeding grounds have fostered active fishing communities in coastal towns. When fishermen adopted industrial techniques in recent decades, bird numbers plummeted, Mr van Beusekom said.

“The fishery in this area was not sustainable. There was severely damaging bottom-dredging fishery on cockles, but that was banned a few years ago. That was the main concern about the Wadden Sea.

“Several species are doing well, but a few wader species like the knot – that’s a species which was very dependent on cockles – were doing not very well. We hope they will recover the numbers.”

Support
After years of fighting their battles in the courts, Mr van Beusekom says BirdLife and the fishing industry have developed a cooperative relationship. Together with the government they have signed agreements to make mussel fishing sustainable.

Yet on the topic of the UNESCO World Heritage designation, they disagree entirely. For Ruud van Beusekom of Birdlife the Netherlands, it’s a testament to the group’s achievements and a boost to their efforts.

“It’s enormous because of the symbolic value of this decision. It means that this area is now comparable, because it’s a world heritage site, to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon in America. Imagine that. That’s a big support to our work.”

Ammunition
For Johan Nooitgedagt of the Dutch Fisherman’s Union, the World Heritage designation threatens the health of Dutch fishing communities.

“That the Wadden Sea is now on the UNESCO list may be great for tourism, but I hope that all the extra tourists drawn by it will start eating fish – that way fishermen stand to get something out of this. Because at the moment they’re very concerned that this listing was made and that it carries with it a higher state of protection.”

The economy in the provinces lining the Dutch Wadden Sea is not flourishing. Young people tend to move to urban centres for education and work, causing regional officials to worry about the future of these communities. Mr Nooitgedacht says the fishermen he represents have a hard time making a living, and it hasn’t become easier as the Wadden Sea became more protected.

“That’s what we’re worried about, that the environmental organisations now have more ammunition with which to increase the level of protection.”

Betrayed
Industrial stakeholders opposed the Wadden Sea’s heritage nomination from the start, worrying it would interfere with their activities. Yet the government insists the Heritage status won’t impact existing legislation. The oil and gas industry says it is not concerned. But Mr Nooitgedacht is not convinced.
 
“It’s just like ten years ago, when the Dutch government brought out new guidelines for nature reserves. If you look at how much work you have to do each year to get a fishing license – that does not concur with what they said at the time, that existing activities could go on as usual.

“In that sense I feel deeply betrayed by the government. We have to exert a tonne of effort just in terms of administrative costs, and we bear the burden of proof –commissioning research from institutions, handing in scientific reports, proving that our activities aren’t harmful – all before we’ve brought one fish on shore. And if they are harmful, then you just won’t get a licence!”

Symbolic
Mr van Beusekom says BirdLife has no desire to close the Wadden Sea to fishing, emphasising the cooperative relationship the two groups have built up. Mr Nooitgedacht is also glad the parties have come together, but he wants to issue a warning:

“It all seems nice, but don’t let this become a fence around the entire area, and you can’t go in and can’t work in it, because thirty years down the road, we’ll look back and say, ‘was that a wise thing to do’?”

For the time being, that looks unlikely. But while the World Heritage listing may not contribute anything concrete to the preservation of this fragile ecosystem, it does focus the world's attention to the area. The German government was embarrassed earlier this year when a heritage site spanning the Elbe river was taken off the UNESCO list, because of plans to build a bridge right through the heart of the site.

So while the status might be merely symbolic, it is one which gives Ruud van Beusekom's birds a little more support.

 

top photo: An injured Common Guillemot on the Wadden Sea. Photo by broterham on flickr.com