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Water en land

Dutch wadden region   Uninhabited islands   Rottumerplaat   Rottumeroog   Griend   

Rottumerplaat

number of residents:

0

major town:

none

surface area:

10 square kilometers

places to stay:

a few for bird rangers

unusual animals:

Kentish plover, sandwich tern

Rottumerplaat and Rottumeroog, Ecomare

Rottumerplaat

In 1833, a sandbank arose to the west of Rottumeroog which grew so large that it received the name Rottumerplaat around 1860. This new island continued to grow in size, especially after 1950, due to the construction of the sand-drift dike built by Rijkswaterstaat. This dike was constructed because there were plans to turn Rottumerplaat into a work island for impoldering the Wadden Sea. In 2000, Rottumerplaat covered a surface area of around 1000 hectares.

  • Slowly moving east
    Rottumerplaat vanuit het oosten, RWS

    Due to erosion on the west side and sedimentation on the east side, Rottumerplaat is slowly moving in an easterly direction. Sedimentation in the period 1965-1985 was stronger than the erosion, so that the island grew in size. Rottumerplaat was 900 hectares large in 1985. After this year, erosion grew stronger and Rottumerplaat slowly began to shrink. Up till 1991, attempts were made to maintain the coastline as much as possible, but in that year it was decided by the government to end coastal management on the island. Since then, natural dynamic processes influence the island. According to a management report from 1996, the Wester Dunes are quickly shifting in an easterly direction and will soon attach to the Stuifdike. The fore bank on the northeastern side has grown notably wider so that it looks like the island is getting wider at this point. The beach plain is developing into a slufter-like region.
    Originally, extremely strong erosion took place where the drift dike was bent, but a turn in events has occurred. One is no longer afraid of the drift dike breaking through.

  • Nature on Rottum

    Within the wadden region, Rottumerplaat and Rottumeroog both fulfill an important function as a rest and foraging area for those species of birds which have a preference for beach plains and sandbanks. Some examples are the sanderling, the dunlin and the Kentish plover. A large number of coastal birds breed on Rottumerplaat and Rottumeroog such as the eider, the shelduck, the Arctic tern, the common tern, the little tern, the Kentish plover and the ringed plover.
    Since management of the island was more or less stopped in the early 1990s, at least one bird species has profited: the sandwich tern established itself in 1996 as a breeding bird on Rottumerplaat. In 1998, there was already talk of a large breeding colony of 2335 pairs of this fairly rare bird.
    Both islands and the mud flats to the south of them fall under the strictest regulations of the Nature Protection Act (article 17). Rottumerplaat is closed the whole year round for the public. The islands are guarded from 25 April to 18 August, as well as in the weekends in the pre- and post-season.
    The wadden region south of Rottumeroog and Rottumerplaat is a closed area for the shellfish fisheries. Even the NAM is not allowed to perform any definite activities here; exploitation of gas supplies in the neighborhood of the islands must take place in the North Sea.
    There are two buildings on Rottumerplaat: the lookout tower (the 'drenkelingenhuis') and a building belonging to the State Forestry, where volunteers can stay when taking nature inventories on the island.

  • Reference region

    Rottumerplaat, Rottumeroog and the tidal flats in between and to the south form a reference area for the Wadden Sea since 2005, where fisheries have been banned. The natural development is being studied yearly. In addition, a five-year evaluation will take place which must decide whether or not the region is developing differently than the rest of the Wadden Sea. The area is closed to the public for an indeterminant amount of time.