The programme

Programme plan

The Wadden Sea region is on the verge of a number of major developments: climate change, energy transition, more sustainable economic activity (fishing, shipping, agriculture etc.), increasing tourism and the threats of population decline and deteriorating quality of life. These complex issues and dynamics demand creativity, flexibility and ingenuity from the parties involved in order to find appropriate answers.

The Programme towards a Rich Wadden Sea (Programma naar een Rijke Waddenzee, PRW) wanted to challenge these parties to think beyond the usual solutions. The challenges ahead also offered opportunities for them to join forces and lead the way in the Wadden Sea region. We wanted to be able to show the world how nature, economy and quality of life cannot only go hand in hand, but can even reïnforce each other.

Perspective for 2050

The Wadden Sea region is incredibly dynamic

Our aim was to move from a target scenario to an attractive prospect. The target scenario of the previous PRW period resulted from the national government’s Key Planning Decision for the Wadden Sea, also known as the Third Wadden Sea Policy Document (now: Wadden Sea Structure Vision). The target scenario for the period 2019–2022 has been updated and merged with the ambitions of the Wadden 2050 Area Agenda. As a result, there is now a single integral perspective for the Wadden Sea region for 2050. The PRW is committed to implementing as many parts of the perspective as possible during this programme period, so that they are completed by 2030.

The essence of the perspective has not changed with this update. The core principle was and remains that the Wadden Sea region will be restored to its original status as an ecologically unique and valuable area that provides humans with both a place to live and a means of subsistence. Primarily, the Wadden Sea region should be a nature reserve (main objective) where joint use is possible, provided that this does not affect nature and the landscape. The perspective was therefore based on the core values of the area, whereby the sustainable joint use did not detract from the qualities of the Wadden Sea ecosystem.