The 5th anniversary of the inscription of the Wadden Sea on the World Heritage on 26 June 2009 was celebrated with many events in the Wadden Sea region. The biggest birthday party in the Wadden Sea ever.

Well over 50 local initiatives united under the motto "5 years UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea – experience and protect a wonder of nature" led to the biggest cross-border anniversary party in the German and Dutch Wadden Sea region. At the same time, the expansion of the World Heritage Site to include the Danish part of the Wadden Sea was celebrated.

Our Wadden Sea World Heritage in focus

Many used the 5th anniversary as an opportunity to convey the uniqueness of the Wadden Sea to an interested public. If communication is to be effective, it must be lively and stimulating. Thus, the World Heritage was brought to life with tours, exhibitions, workshops and excursions. Diverse and varied initiatives showed how proud people in the region are of OUR Wadden Sea World Heritage.

Since 2009, the Wadden Sea has been a UNESCO World Heritage and is thus on a level footing with other world-famous natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon in the USA and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Almost five years to the day later, on 23 June 2014, the UNESCO Committee expanded the World Heritage Site to include areas in front of the East Frisian Islands and the Danish Wadden Sea. Now, the complete 11,500 square metre-large area is a World Natural Heritage. It stretches from Esbjerg in Denmark across the German coast to Den Helder in the Netherlands and includes more than 500 kilometres of coastline.

The people in the region are proud of the Wadden Sea and its distinction as a World Heritage. However, they are also aware of their responsibility to protect and develop sustainably the natural values of the Wadden Sea for current and future generations.
 

How the anniversary was celebrated

"5 years World Heritage" was celebrated with many events in June. It started with the Dutch World Heritage Weekend on 14 and 15 June, followed by the German World Heritage Anniversary Weekend from 27 - 29 June 2014. However, there were also numerous other events organised by many protagonists at local and regional level.