Protected sites

The Voordelta and North Sea Coastal Zone 1 have already been designated as Natura 2000 sites.

Together, the five Natura 2000 sites to be created in the North Sea between 2009 and 2012 occupy 19% of the Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone. This is a marine site of 10,260 km² or, to put it another way, over one million hectares.

The sites involved are:

• Dogger Bank
• Cleaver Bank
• Frisian Front
• Vlakte van de Raan (an expansion of the Voordelta)
• North Sea Coastal Zone 2