12 Protection of Processes in the Wadden Sea
Marlies Villbrandt, Carmen-Pia Gunther & Sabine Dittmann
Abstract: The protection of processes has been proclaimed both on a national
level in the National Park declarations for the Wadden Sea and on an international
level by the 6th Trilateral Governmental Conference. This approach means that all
natural processes and dynamic developments are allowed to happen in an ecosystem in an unrestricted way. However, the realization in the Wadden Sea National
Parks is hampered as the current zonation concept does not protect sufficiently
large and coherent areas, and because the integration of human activities in a sustainable way (as required by the "Man and the Biosphere" programme) has not yet
been achieved. Furthermore, the public acceptance for the protection of processes
has to grow. Based on the results of ELA WAT it is recommended to take the relevance of source populations, dispersal and habitat heterogeneity into account for
coastal zone management, as they are essential for regeneration processes after
disturbances. The protection of entire tidal basins could ensure the capacity for
resilience in this ecosystem.
12.1
What is Protection of Processes?
The protection of processes means to refrain from any human intervention in an
ecosystem. This is based on the philosophy "to let nature be nature" (Bibelriether
1993 a, b) and implies to allow dynamic developments and all natural processes in
an unrestricted way (Knapp 1998). This can only be realized in sufficiently large
areas (e.g. National Parks), which contain all important faunal and floral elements
(key-species and ecosystem engineers with all their development stages), typical
successional stages and a variety of habitats. As a further logical consequence of
the protection of processes, natural disturbances (e.g. floods, fires) should not be
obstructed (Remmert 1988).
Unlike the more conservational approaches of protecting species and habitats,
the protection of processes profits from dynamic characteristics of an ecological
system (Finck et al. 1998). The classic conservation approaches imply the danger
that certain successional stages are artificially prolonged. Given a sufficiently
large area, the protection of processes can be seen as a superior conservation strategy, embracing the protection of species and habitats. Since the large areas required for the protection of processes are often only provided by National Parks,
the protection of species and habitats has to continue in respective conservation
areas.
Marlies Villbrandt, Carmen-Pia Gunther & Sabine Dittmann
Abstract: The protection of processes has been proclaimed both on a national
level in the National Park declarations for the Wadden Sea and on an international
level by the 6th Trilateral Governmental Conference. This approach means that all
natural processes and dynamic developments are allowed to happen in an ecosystem in an unrestricted way. However, the realization in the Wadden Sea National
Parks is hampered as the current zonation concept does not protect sufficiently
large and coherent areas, and because the integration of human activities in a sustainable way (as required by the "Man and the Biosphere" programme) has not yet
been achieved. Furthermore, the public acceptance for the protection of processes
has to grow. Based on the results of ELA WAT it is recommended to take the relevance of source populations, dispersal and habitat heterogeneity into account for
coastal zone management, as they are essential for regeneration processes after
disturbances. The protection of entire tidal basins could ensure the capacity for
resilience in this ecosystem.
12.1
What is Protection of Processes?
The protection of processes means to refrain from any human intervention in an
ecosystem. This is based on the philosophy "to let nature be nature" (Bibelriether
1993 a, b) and implies to allow dynamic developments and all natural processes in
an unrestricted way (Knapp 1998). This can only be realized in sufficiently large
areas (e.g. National Parks), which contain all important faunal and floral elements
(key-species and ecosystem engineers with all their development stages), typical
successional stages and a variety of habitats. As a further logical consequence of
the protection of processes, natural disturbances (e.g. floods, fires) should not be
obstructed (Remmert 1988).
Unlike the more conservational approaches of protecting species and habitats,
the protection of processes profits from dynamic characteristics of an ecological
system (Finck et al. 1998). The classic conservation approaches imply the danger
that certain successional stages are artificially prolonged. Given a sufficiently
large area, the protection of processes can be seen as a superior conservation strategy, embracing the protection of species and habitats. Since the large areas required for the protection of processes are often only provided by National Parks,
the protection of species and habitats has to continue in respective conservation
areas.