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Wadden Sea on World Heritage List

News item | 26-06-2009

UNESCO has put the Wadden Sea on the World Heritage List. That makes it one of a select number of sites that are unique in the world, says Dutch agriculture minister Gerda Verburg.

The World Heritage Committee announced its decision during a recent conference. The areas concerned are in the German and Dutch parts of the Sea, and are already under nature conservation orders.

The Wadden Sea (Waddenzee) is the world's biggest natural system of sand and mud flats and low-lying islands. It is home to more than 10,000 land and sea species, and each year is a port of call for between 10 and 12 million migrating birds.

Ms Verburg and her German colleague Sigmar Gabriel nominated the Wadden Sea as a World Heritage Site in January 2008. They are convinced that World Heritage status will present the area with opportunities, in promoting tourism for instance.

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