Wadden Sea coast, near Moddergat, Friesland, Netherlands

© Ron ter Burg/Minden Picture

Mud, sea and sky. Wadden Sea coast, Friesland, Netherlands

If you've ever dreamed of walking on water or something close to it, the Wadden Sea is the place for you. Tracing over 480 kilometres along the coast of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, this UNESCO World Heritage Site offers a unique landscape of tidal flats and wetlands. In fact, it is the world's largest unbroken intertidal zone—the area that is underwater at high tide and exposed at low tide—of sand and mud flats. The area is also a playground for aquatic species such as houting, brown trout and white-beaked dolphins, and it's a home or resting spot for species of birds like waders and herons. Pictured here is the Wadden Sea coast in Friesland, Netherlands, dotted with charming fishing villages and medieval churches. Mudflat hiking is a recreational pastime here—the Dutch call it wadlopen—and the Wadden Sea is a popular destination.

India is home to a remarkable range of wetlands, shaped by its diverse climate, terrain and rainfall patterns. Our country became a member of the Ramsar Convention, a global treaty focused on wetland conservation, on February 1, 1982. Since then, 85 wetlands, covering over 13,600 square kilometres have been designated as Ramsar sites. This places India at the top in South Asia and third in Asia for the number of designated wetland sites.