The Wadden Sea region as a cultural landscape: History, heritage, management

Abstract

The Wadden Sea region is a typical example of what is often called a ‘maritime cultural landscape’, a landscape that is shaped by the forces of nature and culture and also a landscape in which the livelihood of the population is built on the use of resources from the land as well as from the sea. The author looks at the complex relation between nature and society in the Wadden Sea region in the past as well as in the present. For the sustainable management of this region, an integrated approach combining developments in nature and society is necessary. The artificial border between nature and culture introduced by some ecologists and authorities (the most notorious example being the inscription of the Wadden Sea as a World Heritage Site) is a source of conflict and complicates an integral management of the Wadden Sea region. The author is convinced that the Wadden Sea should be seen as a cultural landscape.