More than 30 representatives from the whole Wadden Sea met on 8-10 November 2021 in Denmark at the annual International Wadden Sea School (IWSS) workshop.

The 15th International Scientific Wadden Sea Symposium, planned for Büsum, Schleswig-Holstein (D) on 30 Nov - 3 Dec 2021, will now be held online.

Science and youth engagement are two of the key topics in this year’s Annual Report from the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat. There is also an update on all the activities of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation from 2021 – a year in which, despite lockdowns and restrictions has seen lots of things to celebrate.

With the start of November, the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS) has a new staff member: Simone Prestes Dürrnagel. Simone will organise the first Wadden Sea Youth Conference, to be held in autumn 2022 at the same time as the Trilateral Governmental Conference.

Since October, multiple cases of bird flu have been reported in the Wadden Sea. Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands all confirmed that the highly pathogenic bird flu virus HPAI has been identified in dead migratory birds found within the Wadden Sea.

The 15th International Scientific Wadden Sea Symposium, which this year will be held in Büsum, Schleswig-Holstein (D) on 30 Nov - 3 Dec 2021, is now at full capacity in line with the local restrictions for events, with 180 participants. It is therefore no longer possible to book at place at the event.

30 years ago, on the 1st of October 1991, the Agreement on the Conservation of Seals in the Wadden Sea (Wadden Sea Seal Agreement/WSSA)) entered into force and became the first international, legally binding agreement under the auspices of the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals - established in the year 1979.

During two weekends in September, the first ever East Atlantic Flyway Youth Forum took place. 79 enthusiastic young conservationists from 34 countries had signed up for the event to discuss the role and importance of youth engagement in flyway conservation.