The island of Neuwerk, which is part of the National Park Hamburg Wadden Sea, is the only inhabited area in the Wadden Sea World Heritage site, with only 25 people living there.

The Wadden Sea World Heritage Destination attracts 10 million people, about 50 million overnight stays and 30-40 million day-trippers every year.

Since 1978, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have been cooperating to ensure transboundary protection and management of the Wadden Sea as a shared natural entity. Almost the entire Wadden Sea is protected by national parks and nature reserves.

Many of the 140 fish species recorded in the Wadden Sea are visiting from the North Sea. Others use the Wadden Sea as a passage during their migration from the sea to the rivers, as an important nursery area for juveniles or as a spawning area in the North Sea. About 20 species are resident in the Wadden Sea and leave the tidal area only during exceptionally cold winters.

Around 3.75 million people live on the mainland along the Wadden Sea. A further 75,000 people live on the islands.

A regular census of 31 breeding bird species found 469,000 breeding pairs. This indicates favourable food availability and natural breeding success. Six species have over 25 % of their north-western European population breeding in the Wadden Sea.