The Wadden Sea Region: Towards a science for sustainable development
P. Kabat|J.G.A. Bazelmans|Jouke van Dijk|Peter M. J. Herman|Tim van Oijen|Morten Pejrup|Karsten Reise|Hessel Speelman|W.J. Wolff
The Wadden Sea is one of the largest intertidal areas in world and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognition its unique natural features. Major changes morphology ecology over past millennium resulted from increasing anthropogenic influences such coastal protection, land claim sea drainage wetland for agriculture, exploitation resources hunting fishing to extraction groundwater, gas oil, industrialisation at port locations tourism islands. A sustainable future can only be achieved if policy management are backed by solid science. Many anticipated result upscaling pressures on system. Economic globalization leads fisheries, industrial activities, thus changed space nature. Climate change will lead hydrographic patterns, species distribution possibly tourism; through sea-level rise it put pressure protection extent areas. Invasions exotic transform ecosystem. There three major related challenges management: 1. Nature conservation changing system requires focus preservation values not state system; 2. adaptation structure scale increase pressures, so that local regional becomes better nested transregional transnational governance structures; 3. Finally, approach needs deal with uncertainty external forcing system, well nonlinearities dynamics when pushed outside normal range operation. Based these challenges, we advocate an integrated social-ecological systems scientific study science-based Region. essential characteristics this strong interdisciplinarity aspects cumulative processes.
Ocean & Coastal Management|Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS)|University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology)|Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung (Alfred-Wegener-Institut)