Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) "Trilateral Partnership in support of the UNESCO Wadden Sea World Heritage"

Ten years after the designation of the Wadden Sea as a World Heritage, and more than 40 years after the establishment of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation of the Wadden Sea states (TWSC), the Wadden Sea community has reached another milestone to deepen its cooperation: As part of the anniversary celebrations on 30 June 2019, in Wilhelmshaven, representatives of the trilateral Wadden Sea Forum, environmental NGOs, the Wadden Sea research sector and sustainable tourism sector from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands signed an agreement with the TWSC on the establishment of a “Trilateral Partnership in support of the UNESCO Wadden Sea World Heritage”. On the occasion of the 14th Trilateral Governmental Conference on the 30 November 2022 in Wilhelmshaven, the Regional Wadden Sea Partnership- and Ambassador Programmes from The Netherlands, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark linked under the umbrella of the trilateral partnership. Since the agreement was reached in 2019 a total of 36 signatories, representing their respective networks have been added to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The purpose of this MoU is to establish an integrated, strategic, multi-stakeholder partnership between the governmental TWSC and strategic partners, which are stakeholder organisations and/or networks with a trilateral focus reaching out beyond the state sector into economic sectors and civil society. The Partners agreed to commonly,

• contribute to the protection of and encouraging exchange on the nature management of the World Heritage Site;
• enhance international cooperation;
• activate the Wadden Sea World Heritage brand;
• educate and disseminate about the Wadden Sea World Heritage;
• develop and support sustainable tourism;
• contribute to regional sustainable development of the entire Wadden Sea Region;
• stimulate research and monitoring to provide the required knowledge for the site management of the Wadden Sea Region;
• integrate cultural identity and heritage values in the management of the Wadden Sea Region.

The MoU forms the basis for joint projects and activities and the trilateral network management by the Partnership Hub.

Organisations which have currently signed the Memorandum of Understanding

• Trilateral Cooperation on the Protection of the Wadden Sea
• Wadden Sea Forum e.V.
• Wadden Sea Team of Green NGOs
  • BUND Deutschland e.V.
  • BUND Landesverband Niedersachsen e.V.
  • The Danish Society for Nature Conservation
  • Dansk Ornitologisk Forening/ BirdLife Denmark
  • Der Mellumrat e.V.
  • Het Groninger Landschap
  • It Fryske Gea
  • Landschap Noord-Holland
  • Meeresschutzbüro BUND Deutschland e.V.
  • NABU e.V.
  • Natuurmonumenten
  • Niedersächsischer Heimatbund e.V.
  • Schutzstation Wattenmeer e.V.
  • Stichting WAD
  • Vogelbescherming Nederland
  • Waddenvereniging
  • World Wide Fund For Nature Deutschland
• Tourism Partners
  • Destinatiemarketing Holland boven Amsterdam
  • Die Nordsee GmbH
  • Nordsee-Tourismus-Service GmbH
  • Marketing Groningen
  • Merk Fryslan
  • Ostfriesische Inseln GmbH
  • Ostfriesland Tourismus GmbH
• Research Partners
  • Forskningsudvalg, Nationalpark Vadehavet
  • Konsortium Deutsche Meeresforschung e.V.
  • Waddenacademie
• Regional Wadden Sea Partner and Ambassador Programmes
  • Danish Nationalpark Vadehavet Partner Programme
  • Nationalpark und Biosphärenreservat Wattenmeer Partner-Programm Niedersachsen
  • Nationalpark Wattenmeer Partner-Programm Schleswig-Holstein
  • Dutch Wadden Sea World Heritage Ambassador Programme