In 2007, the Dutch government decided to set up a Waddenfonds (Wadden Sea Fund) to invest an extra 800 million euro in the Wadden Sea Area over the next 20 years. In March 2009, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) invited the Wadden Sea Council (Raad voor de Wadden) to submit recommendations for the distribution of the funds budgeted for in the Wadden Sea Fund. The Council was asked to compile targets for the natural and socio-economic developments over the next 20 years and also to underpin the principle that economic activities will only qualify for Waddenfonds subsidies if they contribute to a reduction of the pressure on nature.

The Council compiled targets for the area with respect to the issues of nature, liveability, identity, safety and energy based on the objectives and desired developments in the current policy. In addition, it also described the current situation. The proposed programme-based approach comprises the efforts that will be required to meet the targets (in 20 years) based on the current situation. The targets would have to be met with the use of both the Wadden Sea Fund subsidies and the regular policy and measures. The Council opted for a coherent package of measures to ensure that a substantial contribution could be made towards the attainment of the main objective of the Wadden Sea policy over the next 20 years. The main objective for the area reads as follows: 'The protection of the nature and the conservation of the unique open landscape'.

The programme-based approach gives high priority to projects that contribute to the fulfilment of the main objective, as well as projects that contribute to several objectives deriving from the Wet op het Waddenfonds (Dutch Wadden Sea Fund Act). Projects that only contribute to the objective of the sustainable economic development of the area are assigned a low priority. This priority system will prevent the Wadden Sea Fund from assuming the character of a generic regional incentive fund.

The Council included a plan in the recommendations to the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) that will enable more focused allocation of the resources in the Wadden Sea Fund.

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The Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Food Quality has asked the Wadden Sea Council to issue advice on the Trilateral Wadden Sea Plan, the common Trilateral management plan for the Wadden Sea.

The Council observes that the European Birds, Habitats and Water Framework Directives have and have had a strong harmonising effect in the three Wadden Sea countries. To position the Wadden Sea Plan as a common Natura 2000 management plan has therefore only limited added value. Moreover, it is not currently feasible, in view of the legislative differences between the three Wadden Sea countries - and in Germany also between the three German federal states. E.g. in Germany a management plan is not mandatory, as it is in the Netherlands and Denmark. For that reason, this is not the right time for a proposal of that nature. However, for the future the possibility of a common Natura 2000 management plan should be explored.

The new Wadden Sea Plan must take the form of a strategic plan with an overarching vision on policy. The plan should in any case provide for mutual coordination between the national policies in the fields of Natura 2000 and the Water Framework Directive. Furthermore, other "free" subjects (not regulated by the directives) can and must be embodied in the Wadden Sea Plan.
It is in any case important to make clear arrangements to carry out the plan (such as terms and the like). The agreements in the Wadden Sea Plan are not as firmly binding as obligations based on European Directives, but they are morally binding.

The granting of World Heritage status could give momentum to imbue the Wadden Sea Plan with more ambition than would be possible without this status. The future Wadden Sea Plan can function as the management for the World Heritage site Wadden Sea. The UNESCO demands minimal requirements, which the Wadden Sea Plan can easily meet.
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive calls for coordination at North Sea level, for which purpose the Wadden Sea countries could act jointly. This coordination also could take place in substance through the Wadden Sea Plan.
The Council furthermore points at the successful joint monitoring and exchange of knowledge and information for the Trilateral cooperation. These must be continued and extended.

The new Wadden Sea Board should have a steering role in the Trilateral cooperation. It must have a task in the preparation of the Trilateral Ministerial Conference and in supervision of the compliance with the agreements made.

The performance of the Wadden Sea Plan and the Wadden Sea Board should be evaluated in a few years' time. The evaluation must cover the Plan's role and function, the Board's role, function and composition and the mutual relation between Board and Plan.

The importance of the (regularly organized) scientific symposium for the Trilateral cooperation is emphasized. It is important to have the conclusions of the scientific symposium translated into recommendations for the policymakers (the Wadden Sea Board and the Governmental Conference). The Council has recommended before to have a joint committee of independent scientists and government representatives for that purpose. The Council repeats that recommendation.

The Council's recommendations are currently closely in line with the provision positions taken by the German and Danish fellow-advisory councils. The Council does however take the view that a more obligatory form of cooperation will have to be considered in the future.

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2008 saw the publication of the report of the Second Delta Committee (Tweede Deltacommissie) on the protection of the Netherlands against climate change. On that basis the Wadden Sea Council has sent an advisory letter to the State Secretary for Transport, Public Works and Water Management setting out a first step towards the elaboration of the report for the Wadden Sea region. The advisory letter recommends incorporating the advice in the implementation of the 'Deltarapport' (Delta Report) in the National Water Plan (Nationaal Waterplan).

The continued existence of the Wadden Sea in its current state appears to have been secured up until 2050. With a view to making a well considered long-term choice regarding having the Wadden Sea grow in keeping with rising sea levels, the Council recommends making a start at this early stage with large-scale research and long-term monitoring of sediment movement and sand replenishments.

Mainland coast
The Council recommends looking into the Northern Netherlands' alternatives and opportunities for building broad, indestructible dikes. The local starting situation with regard to aspects such as economic activity, cultural-historical objects, population density and the morphology outside of dikes will need to be the determining factor for seeking the space for this towards land or towards the sea. Secondary barriers or secondary dikes could also contribute to meeting the safety standards.

There remains a lack of clarity about the actual contribution that salt marshes can make to the level of protection for the hinterland because there is still uncertainty about the contribution at high water levels and the contribution's permanence.  Furthermore, extending the marshland acreage will lead to a decline in the acreage of high Wadden Sea flats and their natural values. The Council therefore takes the view that it is necessary to look into whether the active creation of salt marshes can in fact be regarded as a significant and permanent coastal protection measure.

Northeast Groningen plays an important role in the supply of gas and energy for a large part of the Netherlands. The economic significance of this area is not sufficiently expressed in the current safety standards, and the Council takes the view that it has not been sufficiently covered in the advice of the Second Delta Committee. For the setting of new standards the Council highlights the importance of correctly assessing the direct and indirect (consequential) damage for this specific area.

Islands and the Wadden Sea
Sand replenishments are currently being carried out to retain the basic coastline. In combination with admitting natural processes and dynamics on the islands, replenishments could also create opportunities for having the Wadden seabed and the parts of the islands outside of the dikes grow with rising sea levels and for the ecological improvement of dunes and salt marshes. To take full advantage of these opportunities the Council recommends the initiation of large-scale pilots aimed at gathering the knowledge needed to determine optimum replenishment quantities and locations. A closer look will need to be taken at the possible (undesirable) ecological effects of intensifying replenishments. It will also be necessary to consider which role could be played by 'biological builders' in constraining sediment, and how they respond to climate change.

IJsselmeer
The Council believes that the large-scale fresh water facility in IJsselmeer proposed by the Delta Committee has not been properly substantiated. Part of the future fresh water requirement could be met from the regional water system. Also, anticipated industrial, technological and socio-economic developments could reduce the future demand for fresh water. The Council recommends using the time between now and 2015 to seek an optimum structure for the Afsluitdijk, in which the functions and qualities of both IJsselmeer and the Wadden Sea are utilised and strengthened. A link between the two internationally recognised nature conservation areas could result in both being strengthened.

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