Projects Archief - Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee

Climate strategy development for policy and management

Joris van Montfort — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 07:30:14 +0000

A great deal of knowledge has already been compiled in the recent past in the form of a position paper documenting the latest insights into soil subsidence, climate change and sediment management (SCS). Based on these and other insights, the commissioning parties wish to select the most important focus areas and crystallise them into a strategy (scenarios) for future policy and management of the Wadden Sea.

Role of the PRW:

Results to be delivered:

Various meetings will be organised to share knowledge concerning climate change in the Wadden Sea region.
A strategy will be developed in 2020 that includes short-term (2030) and long-term (2050) policy and management measures in relation to the climate in the Wadden Sea region.
Greater understanding of climate-change-related legal frameworks applicable to the Wadden Sea ecosystem will be achieved in 2021 among policymakers, administrative bodies, users and residents, allowing them to optimally adapt their behaviour.

Commissioning parties:

Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management
Natural Wadden Coalition

Follow-up action by:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Het bericht Climate strategy development for policy and management verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.

Recovery project and awareness of the natural dynamics of island spits

gho_admin — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 09:02:42 +0000

The stabilisation of dunes and the construction of sand-drift dikes has resulted in the loss of a significant degree of natural dynamics on the islands’ sandy coasts. Nitrogen deposits have also played a role in this development. This development has resulted in the disappearance of the distinctive surge areas and sand-drift dike complexes as well as large-scale overgrowth, which in turn has caused the typical coastal flora and fauna to disappear. These developments could jeopardise the Natura 2000 targets (among others) as well as damaging the adaptability of the islands.

The problem, which was first acknowledged many years ago, is apparent on all of the Wadden Islands and particularly affects the island tails. The commissioning parties believe there is an urgent need to take steps in the years to come in order to preserve and restore the islands’ ecological value and formulate a concrete strategy to restore their natural dynamics. Of course, this must be done in a manner that prioritises safety and has wide support among the parties concerned. These measures will boost the ecological value and climate resilience of the sandy coasts, while all of the experiences from the various Wadden Islands will be incorporated into the measures. The commissioning parties believe there is an urgent need to take steps in the years to come to formulate a strategy to restore these natural dynamics, although this must be done in a manner that prioritises safety and is widely supported by the parties concerned.

Role of the PRW:

Results to be delivered:

Awareness among the island communities of the role of natural dynamics around the island tails will have been raised by 2022.
One or more pilots will have been set up in 2020 that will allow the island communities to observe all intended and unintended effects of the improvement measure(s).
One large-scale pollination or flood plain will have been realised before 2022.

Commissioning parties:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management
National Forest Service (SBB)

Follow-up action by:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Het bericht Recovery project and awareness of the natural dynamics of island spits verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.

Approach and mudflat pilots

gho_admin — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 13:41:54 +0000

Since the damming of the Zuiderzee, large raised mud flats somewhat similar to those in the Ems-Dollart Region have developed just off the Frisian coast. These mud flats can result in large fluctuations in the turbidity of the Wadden Sea, which could potentially have a negative impact on the marine life. It is important to the commissioning parties that greater insight is gained into the impact of mud flat development on the ecosystem as well as measures that could have a positive impact, such as stabilising them by constructing a limited system of salt marshes. This could also result in a win-win situation as this part of the Wadden Sea has a shortage of breeding habitat for birds due to the extensive diking in the past.

Role of the PRW:

Results to be delivered:

An analysis into the problem of mud flats and possible opportunities stemming from these will have been conducted in 2021.
One or more pilots will have been launched as of 2022.

Commissioning parties:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Follow-up action by:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Het bericht Approach and mudflat pilots verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.

Set of measures to reduce the impact of seabed-disturbing activities

gho_admin — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 09:58:49 +0000

Large areas of the seabed in the Wadden Sea region and the North Sea Coast zone are still being frequently disturbed, covered or churned by seabed-disturbing activities such as fishing, navigation channel maintenance and supplementation operations. This has an impact on the structure of the seabed and the marine life. A partial knowledge gap still remains regarding the cumulative scale and impact on ecological value. Damage to shellfish beds and seabed structures caused by churning (regular or otherwise) can result in sediment becoming more mobile (among other effects), which can cause greater fluctuations in turbidity and changes in the sediment composition. The commissioning parties believe it is important to gain insight into the cumulative effects of seabed disturbance in order to develop a set of measures to reduce the impact of seabed-disturbing activities (if necessary).

Role of the PRW:

Results to be delivered:

A broadly supported set of measures to reduce seabed-disturbing activities will have been developed in 2021, with implementation of the measures to start in 2022.

Commissioning parties:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
Natural Wadden Coalition

Follow-up action by:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Het bericht Set of measures to reduce the impact of seabed-disturbing activities verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.

Feasibility study and pilots on the use of Wadden Sea silt

gho_admin — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 10:50:54 +0000

Large quantities of silt are deposited in the calmer areas of the Wadden Sea. In contrast to sand, the supply of silt in the Wadden Sea is practically endless. Given the similar experiences in the Ems-Dollart Region, would it be possible to obtain and sustainably reuse silt from the Wadden Sea via silt sedimentation in strategic locations? To answer this question, a feasibility study must be conducted into possible opportunities, including proposals for possible pilots.

Role of the PRW:

Results to be delivered:

A feasibility study into sustainable use of silt from the Wadden Sea will have been conducted in 2020.
Pilots and innovation relating to silt-use will have been initiated from 2020 onwards, provided the study demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness thereof.

Commissioning parties:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management
Provinces in the Wadden Sea region: North Holland, Friesland and Groningen

Follow-up action by:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Het bericht Feasibility study and pilots on the use of Wadden Sea silt verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.

Development of a strategy for the sustainable and efficient maintenance of marinas

gho_admin — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 11:01:29 +0000

In many areas, islands and coastal communities are experiencing increasing problems with sludge from marinas along the Wadden Sea coast. These problems are primarily caused by environmental factors, such as long-term trends, changing morphological conditions and alternative freshwater drainage regimes from the hinterland. Often, part of the problem is a lack of knowledge and insight into the causes. There is no widespread collaboration or knowledge exchange between the various parties involved in dredging and there is no collective long-term vision. However, given the continual morphological changes observed and expected in the Wadden Sea region, this kind of vision is essential. This vision must result in lower costs, improved accessibility and greater coherence and collaboration during the costly and time-intensive studies into solutions. The commissioning parties would like to initiate developments into sustainable and efficient maintenance of marinas.

Role of the PRW:

Results to be delivered:

A joint strategy for more efficient and sustainable marina maintenance will have been developed in 2021 to reduce negative ecological impact and management costs.

Commissioning parties:

Provinces in the Wadden Sea region: North Holland, Friesland and Groningen
Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Follow-up action by:

Provinces in the Wadden Sea region: North Holland, Friesland and Groningen

Het bericht Development of a strategy for the sustainable and efficient maintenance of marinas verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.

Connecting and securing knowledge development regarding life under water

gho_admin — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 11:37:03 +0000

In order to develop the necessary knowledge, nature organisations, knowledge institutes and water boards have taken the initiative to set up a number of goal-oriented research programmes such as Waddenmozaiek (Wadden Mosaic) and ‘Swimways’ (both coordinated by the Natural Wadden Coalition) and Ruim Baan voor Vissen II (Make Room for Fish II, coordinated by the northern water boards). These organisations require support from PRW with regard to a number of aspects of implementation and execution, and even more importantly, with regard to translating the results into policy, development and management.

The details of these specific aspects are as follows:

Enhancing the overarching collaboration between the various programmes and parties involved in these.
Driving a major transition to a Wadden knowledge infrastructure that will facilitate policy and management and capitalise on our leading international position in Wadden knowledge, which will help boost the northern economy (among others).
Promoting collaboration with other research institutes who possess relevant underwater knowledge. Among others, this will include Wageningen Marine Research, which monitors the effects of various fishing and shellfishing agreements and for the Statutory Research Tasks Unit for the Wadden Sea.
Encouraging – if required – the necessary field experiments (‘learning by doing’) in collaboration with the administrative bodies and users involved (especially the fishing industry).
Making connections between the research conducted in the Wadden Sea (including pilots) and research conducted in other large bodies of water.
During the study: translating the results into goal-oriented agreements concerning policy, development and management in order to improve the natural environment in the Wadden Sea.

Role of the PRW:

Results to be delivered:

Collaboration with regard to knowledge development, policy and management in the field of underwater nature in the Wadden Sea will have been improved.
A Wadden Sea knowledge infrastructure will have been established and safeguarded.
A collaborative community with regard to knowledge development within the Wadden Sea region will have been established, also involving expertise concerning other major bodies of water.
Intermediary services between knowledge institutes, users and administrative bodies during the execution of field experiments.
From 2020 onwards: translation of research results into policy and management agreements via structured discussions between knowledge institutes, policymakers and administrative bodies.

Commissioning parties:

Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management
Provinces in the Wadden Sea region: North Holland, Friesland and Groningen
Natural Wadden Coalition

Follow-up action by:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Het bericht Connecting and securing knowledge development regarding life under water verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.

Development of trilateral agreements regarding swimways and life under water

gho_admin — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 11:41:42 +0000

In the trilateral field, too, little attention has so fair been paid from a policy and management standpoint to life under water. With regard to fish, the PRW has worked with the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS) to ensure the adoption of a trilateral Swimway Vision and a start on a structured approach to research, monitoring, policy, management and stakeholder management. This has led to trilateral agreements (Leeuwarden Declaration, 2018) that must now be converted into an action programme.

The intention is that each of the countries involved takes responsibility for implementing parts of this program. For the underwater nature as a whole, trilateral agreements should also be made in analogy with the swimway. Thus, at the next trilateral Ministerial Conference in 2022, further decisions can be taken on trilateral policy and management of underwater nature in a broad sense.

Role PRW:

Results to be delivered:

Conversion of trilateral agreements into a (national) action program swimway, ready in 2022;
Setting up trilateral agreements on underwater nature, ready in 2022.

Commissioning parties:

Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
Natural Wadden Coalition
Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management

Follow-up action by:

Rijkswaterstaat

Het bericht Development of trilateral agreements regarding swimways and life under water verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.

Nature improvement and sustainable joint use pilots

gho_admin — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 11:48:27 +0000

The core of the vision of a resilient and sustainable Wadden Sea region is the realisation of an ecosystem that is as natural as possible. The restoration of nature quality is not an automatic process and requires both knowledge development and active, innovative pilots (‘learning by doing’). These pilots will focus on improving the quality of nature, boosting sustainability of human activity and helping to reintroduce important species that have disappeared from the region (and subsequently learning from this). Examples include the reintroduction of flat oysters; experiments with natural hard substrates and phasing out of seabed disturbance in gullies and sublittoral tidal flats; protection of heritage-listed shipwrecks using natural materials; and leaving cadavers of large sea mammals in locations of significant importance to nature and/or human experience. To the greatest possible extent, these and other future pilots will be developed and executed in conjunction with the aforementioned research projects and in collaboration with administrative bodies and users.

Role of the PRW:

Results to be delivered:

At least three innovative pilots will have been set up in 2022 focusing on improving the quality of nature, boosting the sustainability of human activity and reintroducing important species that have disappeared from the area.

Commissioning parties:

Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management
Provinces in the Wadden Sea region: North Holland, Friesland and Groningen
Natural Wadden Coalition

Follow-up action by:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Het bericht Nature improvement and sustainable joint use pilots verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.

Making life under water known and loved

gho_admin — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 12:02:01 +0000

Administrative bodies, users, residents, managers and policymakers are largely unaware of the rich natural tapestry beneath the waves of the Wadden Sea. If these parties can be made aware of the value of this natural environment and the urgency of action to protect it, this will naturally result in greater willingness to respect and preserve underwater nature. In other words, we need to boost awareness of and affinity for underwater nature by comprehensively publicising the results of research and pilots among the target groups and providing them with clear perspectives for action. This will facilitate the incorporation of these objectives into policy and management.

Underwater cafés

Together with administrative bodies and scientists, we have organised a series of ‘underwater cafés’ in the Wadden Sea region in order to boost awareness of and affinity for underwater nature, which in turn will facilitate the incorporation of underwater nature protection into policy and management. Anyone who lives or works in the region and is interested in the Wadden Sea region and its underwater nature is welcome. Together, we can express our different perspectives, share knowledge, support one another and boost awareness of underwater nature in the Wadden Sea.

Would you like to know more about past underwater cafés and find out when other underwater cafés will be held in the near future? If so, go to the Underwater Cafés page.

Role of the PRW:

Results to be delivered:

The issue of underwater nature will have been fully incorporated into the development of policy and management in 2020.
The importance of underwater nature will be established as common knowledge and embedded into policy and management.

Commissioning parties:

Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management
Provinces in the Wadden Sea region: North Holland, Friesland and Groningen
Natural Wadden Coalition

Follow-up action by:

Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management

Het bericht Making life under water known and loved verscheen eerst op Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee.