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[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]