What's so important about mudflats?

The Wadden Sea

A lug worm - one of the iconic animals of the mudflats. It is one of the small five!

The Wadden Sea World Heritage site covers around 11,500 square kilometres along the North Sea coast and has a length of around 500 kilometres. The Wadden Sea has been included on the World Heritage List under all three criteria: It is of unique importance both geologically and due to its ecological processes and its great diversity of species. In addition, the Wadden Sea is the largest continuous mudflat habitat in the world.

South beach - Wilhelmshaven (Germany)

Geologically it is a very young landscape. Only at the end of the Ice Age before 10000 did the North Sea and the Wadden Sea emerge in their present form. About 10,000 species of living creatures use the shallow sea, which exposes countless mud and sandbanks at low tide. It is an extremely important resting place for migratory birds - during the migration season about 12 million birds pass through the Wadden Sea and take a break there.