The Sea Ranger Service is a social enterprise based in The Netherlands, which works in direct cooperation with government agencies to manage ocean areas. The organisation trains young people as Sea Rangers and deploys special sailing work ships to carry out marine management tasks, as well as research and eco-system regeneration work. The current operational area for the Sea Rangers is the North Sea.
History
The Sea Ranger Service was founded by conservationist Wietse van der Werf in 2016. After having been awarded the Future for Nature Award for his innovative approach to marine conservation, he used the prize money to start the Sea Ranger initiative, which was officially launched by Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, in August 2016. Initially founded as a non-profit organisation in The Netherlands, the Sea Ranger Service developed a business model for its conservation work and transitioned into operating as a social enterprise from 2017. In March 2018 the organisation organised a Sea Ranger Bootcamp, in which the first Sea Rangers were selected and trained. Since October 2018 the Sea Ranger Service operates its first sailing work vessel on the North Sea, with Den Helder as its home port. A second vessel has been under construction in Hardinxveld-Giessendam since 2016.
Approach
Van der Werf has stated the original inspiration for the Sea Ranger Service has come from the Civilian Conservation Corps, a programme launched by US president Franklin D. Roosevelt to alleviate poverty and unemployment in the inner cities during the Great Depression in 1933, whilst simultaneously carrying out large-scale landscape restoration and conservation work. The Sea Ranger Service follows a similar approach for ocean conservation. It trains young people with the help of veterans as Sea Rangers. After their one-year deployment as Sea Rangers, in which they carry out conservation tasks at sea, the Sea Rangers transition into maritime employment. The Sea Ranger Service exclusively operates commercially certified sailing work vessels. In May 2019 the Sea Ranger Service was awarded the Medal of Honour by the Enkhuizen Maritime College and the Dutch Commercial Sailing Board, for operating the first commercial sailing vessel in the offshore industry. The Sea Ranger Service has announced plans to scale its approach internationally, through a social franchising model.
