Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea and adjacent areas (Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer). 15/11/91; Schleswig-Holstein; 454,988 ha; 54°30'N 008°40'E. National Park, Nature Reserves. This site comprises 40% of the Wadden Sea (shared by Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany) and consists of extensive mudflats, rivers, sandbanks, dunes, saltmarshes, heathland and islands. It supports internationally important breeding numbers of several species of birds and more than two million staging waterbirds, including internationally important numbers of 24 species. In particular, approximately 70% of the entire European population of Tadorna tadorna (180,000) gather here in molting flocks. The site supports endemic aquatic invertebrates, endangered reptiles and amphibians, and is an important breeding area for Phoca vitulina. It is also an important nursery area for several commercially exploited fish species. Human activities include grazing livestock, tourism, hunting, shell fishing, military activities, and boating. Significantly extended in 2002. Ramsar site no. 537. Most recent RIS information: 2002.