ABSTRACT
Once political traction has been re-established, it may be possible to deal with the islands in a manner that befits their actual insignificance. The status quo may be holding, and all 'solution protocols', proposed and otherwise, may pale in the face of the staying power of the current stand-off in the East China Sea. This chapter proposes what can be seen as an ideal (albeit speculative) win-win scenario, with coastguard vessels currently trading warnings and firing water cannons at each other replaced by cruise ships escorting eco-tourists to explore what could become designated as a trans-border nature reserve or even a UNESCO World Heritage Site, following co-nomination by China and Japan. The fantasising of such a rapprochement is not just fanciful 'pie in the sky'. The chapter discusses the ecosystem of the Wadden Sea, in Northwest Europe: the world's only UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of islands, and their surrounding tidal flats, as well as a major tourism attraction.
