Wattenmeer, Ostfriesisches Wattenmeer & Dollart. 26/02/76; Niedersachsen; 121,620 ha; 53°42'N 007°21'E. Added to the Montreux Record, 4 July 1990. Special Protection Area EC Directive; National Park, Nature Reserves. Two sections of the North Sea coast consisting of parts of the East Friesian Islands and the Ems River estuary. Both areas include extensive mudflats and saltmarsh and support vast reedbeds. As part of the Wadden Sea, the site is internationally important for breeding, wintering and staging abundant numbers of waterbirds. Popular as a recreation area, the site is vulnerable to oil spills from nearby shipping lanes and port facilities. In some areas hunting is strictly controlled. The site was placed on the Montreux Record in 1990 for the following reasons: dyke construction, boring for gas, a planned oil pipeline and harbor extension, and low-altitude military overflights. Subject of a Ramsar Advisory Mission in 1990. Ramsar site no. 82.