The Wadden Sea of the south-eastern North Sea is a World Heritage Site. This means that its neighbors - the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark - have a responsibility to the global community to preserve its outstanding universal value.
The Wadden Sea World Heritage Site stretches along the North Sea coast from the Netherlands via Germany to Denmark and covers an area of around 11,500 km². In 2009, the German-Dutch Wadden Sea was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 2011, the Hamburg Wadden Sea was added and in 2014 the Danish part followed together with a seaward extension of the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea.
The Wadden Sea is of outstanding global importance in terms of geological and ecological processes as well as its significance for the conservation of biodiversity. The "Outstanding Universal Value" of the Wadden Sea is thus internationally recognized and the achievements of over 40 years of transboundary protection and management are acknowledged. The Wadden Sea is now on a par with other world-famous natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon in the USA and the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.