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A view of the Wadden Sea (Wattenmeer) at low tide near the Westerheversand Lighthouse on the coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany's northernmost state.

(© dpa - Bildfunk)

The Wattenmeer tidal mudflats dominate Germany's North Sea coastline like vast shape-shifting sandscapes. This unique marine ecosystem, which provides feeding grounds to millions of migratory birds, was designated a UNESCO world natural heritage site in Seville, Spain, on June 26.

The decision reached at the World Heritage Committee's annual meeting puts the Wattenmeer, or Wadden Sea, on the same level as the Galapagos Islands or the Grand Canyon. The expansive wetlands' heritage region stretches along the northern coast of Germany, from the northern tip of the island of Sylt, to the Dutch island of Texel.

With this status, UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, has ruled that humanity has a right for the area to be protected and preserved.

"It's wonderful that the Wattenmeer is a world natural heritage. This honors the efforts by the Wattenmeer residents to protect this unique and fascinating living area," said Hans-Heinrich Sander, environment minister for the northern German state of Lower Saxony.

"Nature protection is a tradition here which stretches back nearly 100 years. With this title we accept the mission to preserve this heritage for the next generations."

Wadden Sea National Parks

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A seal rests on a sandbank at the Wadden Sea near Den Oever, in the northern Netherlands, on June 23, 2009.

(© dpa - Report)

The Wadden Sea has been popular with generations of tourists who hike barefoot at low tide across the regions expansive tidal mudflats and swim or sail along the shoreline.

The Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, based in Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein, is central Europe's largest national park. It boasts a completely natural marine landscape with dunes, beaches and salt marshes. There are also small Hallig islands, unprotected by dykes, which disappear beneath the waves during storms and spring tides.

Further south, two other designated parks cover the rest of Germany's Wattenmeer region - the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park and the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park.

Continually contested by land and sea

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Vacationers hike along the Wadden Sea coastline of the northern German state of Lower Saxony, near Schillig in the Friesland region.

(© dpa - Bildfunk)

Rich in biological diversity, the Wadden Sea is a habitat for some 3,200 animal species. Starfish, crabs, snails, mussels and mud worms all live along the water's edge, as do seals who sunbathe along the sandy shores. And there is one big show-stopping special annual attraction - the autumn arrival of millions of migratory birds.

The Wadden Sea (Dutch: Waddenzee, German: Wattenmeer, Low German: Wattensee, Danish: Vadehavet, West Frisian: Waadsee) stretches from Den Helder in the Netherlands to Esbjerg in Denmark along some 500 kilometers (310 miles) and an area of about 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles) - the largest continuous tidal flats in the world.

A region continually contested by land and sea, this landscape is believed to have been largely formed by storm tides in the 10th to 14th centuries, which overflowed and swept away former peat land behind the coastal dunes. The present-day islands contained within the tidal mud flats and tidal trenches of the Wadden Sea  region are remnants of the former coastal dunes that once dominated the landscape.

Dresden Elbe Valley stripped of world cultural heritage status

Germany now has two world natural heritage sites, the other being the Messel Pit, a fossil-rich site near Darmstadt in the central German state of Hesse, which was given the title in 1995. A 47-million-year-old primate fossil nicknamed Ida discovered at the Messel Pit was hailed in May 2009 as the most complete and well-preserved fossil ever found and as a "missing link" in primate evolution.

The award of the title to the Wattenmeer came just a day after the Dresden Elbe Valley was stripped of its world cultural heritage title, for a four-lane bridge being built over the river which in the judgement of UNESCO, ruined the cultural landscape.

As reported online by Deutsche Welle, the move makes Dresden just the second site to lose its status since the World Heritage list was created in 1972.

Related Links:

Germany's Wadden Sea Mudflats Named World Heritage Site (DW-WORLD.DE)

Dresden Loses World Heritage Status (DW-WORLD.DE)

UNESCO Weltnaturerbe Grube Messel (in German)

The German National Tourist Office - New York

Nationalpark-Zentrum Cuxhaven (in German)

Schutzstation Wattenmeer (in German)

Let's Go (travel guide)