In recent centuries in Northern Netherlands, landreclamation has taken place by the use of kwelders. The presence of these kwelders determines the characteristics of the Wadden coast. The purpose for making land and the technique by which kwelders were made has always changed, so each period generated a different landscape. In the current situation, most of the kwelders have disappeared.
In line with the history and characteristics of the Wadden coast, OTO pleads for expanding the kwelders outside of the existing dike. The new kwelders serve as reinforcement of the dike and offer interesting new nature. From a spatial and technical point of view, the conditions along the Waddendike are not suitable everywhere for making kwelders. Some places need another reinforcement method such raising the dike or a reinforcement method inland. Existing kwelders along the Waddendike need an ecological impulse.
The existing dike will transform to a continuous wider zone. This broadened Waddendijk is characterized as a new flood landscape. On the Wadden side the various interventions create an interesting variation and on the land side the dike slope creates continuity and recognizability of the Wadden dike as a whole. The broadened Wadden dike is a landscape structure with bike and walking trails, some important recreational places and a recognizable materialization.