The 38th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee started on 15 June. Until the 25 June, the Committee will consider the inscription of 36 sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List including the extension of the Wadden Sea World Heritage with the Danish part of the Wadden Sea and offshore areas in Germany.

In 2009, the Dutch-German Wadden Sea was inscribed on the World Heritage List. At the same time, the World Heritage Committee requested the States Parties so submit a nomination of the Danish part of the Wadden Sea as soon as feasible to extent and complement the existing property.

In January 2013, the extension nomination was submitted followed by a field mission by the IUCN in August 2013 and a Supplementary Information submitted to the World Heritage Centre in February 2014.

The IUCN positively evaluated the nomination in May 2014 which resulted into a Draft Committee Decision to approve the extension (Download Draft Decision document).

The decision of the World Heritage Committee on the extension nomination of the Wadden Sea is expected to be taken on 21 or 22 June 2014 depending on the timetable of the meeting.

The meeting be watched live at: whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/38COM/