They are out and about in all weathers, make the Wadden Sea tangible for guests on guided tours, and they protect the habitat on the German North Sea coast: the national park rangers. So far they have been used on land - but according to plans from Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Hamburg, the ranger force could soon grow and its area of operation could expand to the sea. An overview of the plans:
Where have rangers been deployed in the national park so far?
To date, the rangers employed by the national park administration have only carried out tasks on land. According to the information, there are currently 14 full-time rangers along the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea coast and on the islands - each one is responsible for an individual coastal region.
The ranger system was only introduced a good 30 years after the national park was designated in 2015. There have been full-time rangers from the national park administration in Schleswig-Holstein since 1996. There are currently 17.
What are the tasks of the rangers in the national park?
According to the national park administration, the rangers are the “friendly faces of the national park on site”. Their tasks are varied: Rangers inform national park visitors, take on monitoring tasks, work on research projects and ensure that natural processes can proceed as undisturbed as possible, for example by protecting breeding birds.
They have no sovereign authority - recording personal details or issuing warning fines is not part of their job. But the rangers ensure that the rules in the national park are adhered to.
What changes are the Wadden Sea neighbors planning?
To date, no rangers have been deployed for tasks at sea - that is now set to change. In the future, they should also travel on boats in order to be present on the sea. “The tasks will be particularly in the areas of protected area management, monitoring, environmental education, visitor guidance, communication and cooperation with marine users,” said the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of the Environment.
The Marine Ranger project is explicitly aimed at closing gaps in these areas of responsibility on the water surface of the German marine protected areas; synergies with existing structures and projects are to be created.
Why should the rangers also be at sea in the future?
“All the strengths that the previous use of rangers on land have are also expected for the use of rangers at sea,” said the spokeswoman for the Environment Ministry in Kiel. She gives an example: Marine national park rangers could accompany trips to seal beds.
They would help to make guests aware of the privacy and therefore need for protection of whelping and berthing areas and the correct handling of seals in the national park. At the same time, they could understand their experiences in nature directly and on site.
How far along are these plans so far?
The project became public in May. Since then, the national park administrations and partner institutions have been in exchange. According to the Ministry of the Environment in Hanover, there is currently a project application submitted to the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). This application stipulates that the countries want to develop a common concept for the use of rangers at sea. A decision from the DBU as to whether the project will be funded is expected this autumn. A final decision has not yet been made about this.
A possible start time is also not known. “Only the results of the intended project will show whether, to what extent and from when rangers could be deployed on the protected marine areas,” said the Environment Ministry in Kiel.
How many rangers are deployed and how much does it cost?
This is still unclear. According to the Ministry of the Environment in Hanover, a concept is currently being developed. “Estimates of investment, operating and personnel costs are not yet available and will be determined as part of the concept study,” says the ministry. The exact number of additional rangers and their distribution among the federal states have not yet been determined. During a pilot phase, only a small number of rangers should be deployed. How many is unknown.
How will rangers work with other agencies?
That is still open. To date, there are already various supervisory and control authorities in the Wadden Sea National Park that are responsible: In addition to the national park administration, there are also water protection police, federal police, customs, waterways and shipping administration and the fisheries office.
The spokeswoman for the Environment Ministry in Kiel said that equipment, tasks and cooperation with other institutions, powers and financing would be specified as part of the concept development. The avoidance of duplicate structures and the use of synergies, for example with the water police, should be taken into account during development and coordinated with the authorities operating at sea.
According to the Ministry of the Environment in Hanover, the extent to which the rangers should be given sovereign powers in addition to documenting violations will be clarified with the responsible authorities as the project progresses.
What reactions are there to the plans?
Lower Saxony's coastal fishermen react irritably to the plans and point to the fisheries dialogue between the state, environmental groups and fishermen that has just ended. According to the Weser-Ems State Fishing Association, the plans for such new national park rangers were not discussed “even in a minor clause” during the discussions.
“We expect the state government to provide a comprehensive explanation of what plans exist for the territorial sea. A dialogue thrives on openness and trust. The fishery feels uninformed in this matter,” says association chairman Dirk Sander.
The coastal fishermen are also disappointed because the Fisheries 2025 Future Commission set up by the federal government proposed in its final report that fishing should be supported with alternative business models in view of declining fishing opportunities - for example in environmental education and marine nature conservation.
“It now appears that these tasks should instead be transferred to a newly created ranger structure,” says the state fishing association. The fishermen also fear that a “cost-intensive parallel structure” will be set up within the authorities. There is no evidence of a control deficit in the Wadden Sea so far.
The WWF Wadden Sea office in Husum welcomes the plans. “I think this is a good thing,” said Wadden Sea program manager at WWF Germany, Jannes Fröhlich. So far it has been a deficit that the national park administrations and their rangers only travel on land.
