efforts of the National Park Administration with the locals. The administration has trouble in limiting the agriculture in the national park area, mainly because there hasn't been much agriculture in the first place before the Wadden Sea National Park was founded. Also, even 32 years after the creation of the national park, only 14% of the local people actually know that the Wadden Sea area which they are living adjacent to has the conservation status of a national park. The public awareness of the Wadden Sea being a biosphere reserve is < 1%. Coastal defence Coastal defence has a higher priority than nature conservation measurements, even in the national park area. Along the North Sea coast new dikes are being built and old dikes will be amplified according to the sea level rise. In some areas, e.g. at the west coast of Sylt eroded beach material is replaced through beach nourishment. But compared to other marine national parks coastal defence has always been a part of the Wadden Sea. The Wadden Sea wouldn't be the same today if not for coastal protection over centuries. For example drainage channels were dug in the Dark Age in salt marsh areas. Even today the channels change the originally amphibious character of the biotope. In the past land reclamation was the number one priority for the people during the first settlements. Nowadays only small areas of land reclamation are planned (due to nature conservation) mainly for increasing the stability in foreshore areas for better flood protection. Tourism The national park law says that nature conservation in the national park area shall support sustainable development of living and working conditions for locals. The goal is reached by positive backlash on tourism and reputation of the region. The location of the Wadden Sea National Park is a traditionally popular destination for German tourists. The official statistics show that 1.5 million holidaymakers generate 8.4 million overnight stays in the adjacent coastal area, islands and Hallig islands. One can assume that unofficial numbers are much higher because the official statistics don’t include private renting with less than 10 beds to sleep in, long-time camping, and staying overnight in houses / flats of relatives or friends. Another number which is hard to quantify are the daily visitors. To determine a total number of tourists the researchers combine official counting with other representative surveys with topics related to tourism in