On 22 October 1997, at the 8th Ministerial Conference in Stade, Germany, the three Wadden Sea States Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands adopted the Wadden Sea Plan, the common policy and management plan for the protection and sustainable management of the Wadden Sea Area. This month, the plan has been in place for 20 years.
The Wadden Sea Plan has a wider perspective than a traditional management plan, as it encompasses the common vision, principles, policies and measures of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation. The plan is a transboundary blueprint for how the countries involved strive to coordinate and integrate the management of the Wadden Sea Area, in particular with regard to the World Heritage obligations. A unique and basic feature of the Wadden Sea Plan is that it aims to protect full range of habitats that belong to a natural and dynamic Wadden Sea ecosystem.
In 2010 the States Parties to the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation adopted a revised and updated version of the Wadden Sea Plan, to take account of various developments since 1997, in particular the inscription of the Wadden Sea on the UNESCO World Heritage List.