Nationalpark Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer - Hamburger Hallig, Germany - UNESCO Geoparks and Biosphere Reserves on Waymarking.com

The Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park is a national park in the Schleswig-Holstein part of the Wadden Sea of the North Sea. The state parliament established it with the National Park Act of July 22, 1985 effective October 1, 1985 and expanded it significantly in 1999. Together with the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park, the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park and the parts of the Elbe estuary that are not subject to nature conservation, it forms the German part of the Wadden Sea.

The national park stretches from the German-Danish sea border in the north to the mouth of the Elbe in the south. In the North Frisian part it includes the mud flats around the Geestkern and Marschen islands and Halligen. There the mudflats are sometimes 40 kilometers wide. Further south are mud flats, where there are mainly larger sandbanks. In addition to the plants and animals that are typical for the entire Wadden Sea of the North Sea, there are particularly many porpoises, shelducks and seaweeds in the Schleswig-Holstein part.

With an area of 4410 km², it is by far the largest national park in Germany and the largest national park between the North Cape and Sicily. 68% are submerged and 30% periodically dry out. The land part consists mostly of salt marshes. Since 1990, the national park, together with the North Frisian Halligen, has formed the UNESCO-recognized Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea and Halligen Biosphere Reserve. Together with the Lower Saxony and Dutch Wadden Sea areas, the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. The Hamburg Wadden Sea has belonged to this network since 2011 and the Danish National Park Vadehavet since 2014.