Tidal flats full of life, Japsand, National Park Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea, Germany
The dark are billions of small (1-3mm) snails (Hydrobia ulvae). On 26 June 2009, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed the Dutch-German Wadden Sea on the World Heritage List. The Wadden Sea is an area that holds a natural beauty and is unique in the world. The total area of the Dutch-, German and Danish Wadden Sea is about 10,000 km2 and includes the world's largest continues tidal flats, which are important feeding grounds for millions of shorebirds. The trilateral area is protected through national parks (Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein/Germany and Denmark), biosphere reserves and other kind of protected areas. Under leadership of the International Wadden Sea Secretariat the three governments (NL, D, DK) agreed in 2014 on a Tourism Strategy for the entire Wadden Sea, making the area an improving example of Linking Tourism & Conservation.
Year: 2012
From album: Wadden Sea
Photographer: Peter Prokosch