World Heritage Photos

Wadden Sea –  A Paradise for Migratory Birds 

The Danish section of the Wadden Sea is the northernmost part of this international body of water. The Wadden Sea stretches from the town of Den Helder in the Netherlands in the southwest, along the coast of Germany, including the national parks of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, and up the coast of Jutland to its northern boundary at Skallingen, north of Esbjerg in Denmark. A Wadden Sea area requires protection from strong sea currents; in the case of the Wadden Sea, that role is fulfilled by the Wadden Islands. The best-known Danish Wadden Islands are Rømø, Mandø and Fanø, with Fanø being the northernmost of the group. Mandø is accessible only at low tide via a tidal road or by a special tractor-bus. Rømø is the southernmost and most famous Danish Wadden Island, making it a popular tourist destination thanks to its beautiful sandy beaches.

The Wadden Sea region is a paradise for marine life. Seals rest and give birth to their young on the mudflats and sandbanks formed in this shallow sea. Salt-tolerant plants flourish on the salt marshes situated at the boundary between land and sea. The area serves as a wintering and breeding ground for millions of birds each year. Sneum Digesø is the most famous bird sanctuary in the region, with 264 bird species recorded there to date.

The Vadehavscentret in the town of Ribe is an excellent place to discover everything about this extraordinary marine landscape. The Dutch and German parts of the Wadden Sea became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009, with the Danish section being added to the site in 2014. The Danish Wadden Sea National Park (Nationalpark Vadehavet) is the largest national park in Denmark. The Wadden Sea is inscribed as a natural World Heritage Site.

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   The Wadden Sea: This outstanding natural area stretches along the North Sea coast of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, from the Dutch city of Den Helder to beyond Esbjerg in Denmark. As the world's largest unbroken tidal flat system, the Wadden Sea is of unparalleled ecological value. Its dynamic landscape of intertidal flats and salt marshes provides a habitat for salt-tolerant plants, seals, and millions of birds. It serves as a vital breeding ground for species such as the avocet, spoonbill, common tern, and Kentish plover, while millions of migratory birds use the area to forage and rest.

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   Wadden Sea: This unique marine landscape of tidal flats and salt marshes provides a crucial habitat for salt-tolerant plants, such as Salicornia, commonly known as samphire greens or marsh samphire. This pioneer species can effortlessly survive in a tidal area. Samphire absorbs large amounts of salt as it grows and tolerates saline conditions better than any other plant. The Wadden Sea National Park Vadehavet is the largest national park in Denmark. It is visited twice a year by 12 million migratory birds and has the largest population of harbour seals in Denmark. The Wadden Sea is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a protected nature reserve.

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   Wadden Sea: In the foreground stands the salt-marsh arrowgrass (Triglochin maritima). In the Netherlands, this plant is quite rare and has declined significantly, except in the Wadden Sea and the Zeeland Delta. In the larger salt marshes of the German and Danish Wadden region, the plant has more habitat, allowing it to remain stable and thrive there. Salt marshes lie at the interface of land and sea. As long as they have not been dyked and brought under cultivation, saline seawater flows into these marshes through channels, fostering the lush growth of salt-tolerant plants.

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   One of the salt-tolerant plants found throughout the Wadden Sea region is the sea purslane (Atriplex portulacoides). The plant has tangled stems and can consequently form such dense, continuous mats that other salt-marsh plants can barely penetrate them. The sands and the dunes of the Wadden Sea serve as vital resting places for colonies of seals. A mudflat walking tour is a unique and adventurous way to explore this nature reserve. Because the Wadden Sea is one of the most treacherous seas in Europe, you must always go mudflat walking with a qualified guide.

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   The Wadden Sea, Denmark: The Sneum Å River flows into the Wadden Sea through the Sneum Sluice. Located close to this functional drainage sluice is Sneum Digesø. This lake lies just inside the sea dyke and was created in 1991 through the excavation of clay soil used to reinforce the dykes along the Wadden Sea. This inland wetland was subsequently specially designed as a bird sanctuary, featuring shallow areas, inlets and small islands. This provides birds with numerous safe zones for resting, feeding and breeding. Sneum Digesø is an excellent spot for birdwatching in Denmark; since its completion, 264 bird species have been recorded there.

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   The Sneum Å flows through the coastal marshes and salt marshes, discharging into the Wadden Sea via the Sneum Sluice approximately 14 kilometres southeast of the Danish city of Esbjerg. On the seaward side, concrete blocks lie in the surf along the water's edge. After the Second World War, the Danes repurposed these heavy square blocks, originally left behind in a German depot as anchor points for naval mines, as breakwaters to protect the shore against erosion. In Denmark, most rivers discharge into the Wadden Sea through sluices in the dykes.

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   Wadden Sea, Denmark: A 9-kilometre-long causeway leads over the salt marshes of the Wadden Sea to Rømø, the southernmost Wadden Sea Island of Denmark. Nationalpark Vadehavet covers the Danish part of the Wadden Sea from the German border to the Ho Bugt near Esbjerg. It also  encompasses the islands Rømø, Mandø, Fanø and Langli, along side the Skallingen Peninsula, the Varde Å River Valley and many marshlands, such as those around Tønder and Ribe. In this water-rich area, large flocks of migratory birds can be seen on and above the mudflats during the spring and autumn.

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   Wadden Sea in Denmark: The iconic windmills and the mill house at the Ballum Enge near Bredebro. The Ballum Enge is a vast polder area within the Ballummarsken, the salt marshes of Ballum. From 1842 to 1965, Dutch-style windmills were used in this area to pump fresh drinking water for livestock. The two original wooden mills were replaced in 1890 by two iron meadow windmills. This historic polder area lies safely behind the Wadden Sea dyke, between the towns of Tønder and Ribe, famous for being the oldest town in Denmark.

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   Tønder is the oldest privileged market town in Denmark. The historic centre is still dominated by 17th- and 18th-century houses. From the Middle Ages onwards, merchants traded with the rest of Europe via the Wadden Sea. This former Hanseatic city once had a harbour on the Wadden coast, but due to land reclamation, the city now lies approximately 5 kilometres inland. The Sort Sol, the Black Sun, is a breathtaking natural phenomenon in the marshlands around Tønder and Ribe. Hundreds of thousands of starlings dance through the sky in synchronized formations, obscuring the sun and giving rise to its name.

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    The Wadden Sea is a rich source of food for birds. When the tidal waters retreat, the mud and sand flats are exposed at low tide, it gives birds an easy access to snails, worms, mussels, crabs and shrimps. Seals use these sandbanks as resting places and give birth to their young there. About 2,300 species of flora and fauna can be found in the salt marshes of the Wadden Sea. The Wadden Sea is threatened by human activities, such as gas drilling; a consequence of this is that bird species in the Wadden region are at risk of disappearing. Threatened bird species include the ringed plover, eider duck, ruff, avocet, Arctic tern, oystercatcher and common snipe.

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    Wadden Sea: The Højer Sluice (Højer Sluse) is located west of Tønder and is one of the most famous hydraulic engineering structures in the Danish Wadden Sea region. This historic sluice is located at the mouth of the Vidå River and was built in 1861 in the Højer-Siltoft, a dyke along the Wadden Sea. The area near this sluice is the absolute best place to experience the 'Sort Sol' (Black Sun) in spring and autumn. This natural phenomenon occurs at dusk, when hundreds of thousands of starlings gather to find a roosting spot for the night, forming massive clouds during their flight that blot out the sun.

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    Wadden Sea, Denmark: The tower of the modern Højer Vidåslusen is a striking landmark in the landscape. Through this drainage sluice, the Vidå River discharges into the Wadden Sea. The sluice is part of the German-Danish Dyke (Det Fremskudte Dige), a 12-kilometre-long sea dyke that extends across the national border. This defence was built after the region was struck by a terrifyingly severe storm surge in 1976, in order to prevent the historic town of Tønder and the surrounding salt marshes meadows from flooding. Similar dyke-protected salt marshes can also be found around the town of Ribe. The Højer Vidåslusen is located about 1.5 kilometres from the historic Højer Sluse (dating from 1861), which now serves as additional dyke protection.