[2] From the age of 15, Van der Werf became involved in environmental activism and later moved to the UK where he worked with groups such as the Climate Camp and The Mischief Makers, the art-activist collective which he co-founded in 2004.

[3][4][5] Van der Werf has since distanced himself from direct activism, instead pursuing a social entrepreneurial approach to ocean conservation.

[6] Van der Werf founded the Sea Ranger Service in 2016 as a social enterprise which trains young people as Sea Rangers and deploys special sailing work ships to carry out marine management tasks in direct cooperation with governments.

[9] Van der Werf has stated the inspiration for the Sea Ranger Service has originated from the Civilian Conservation Corps, a programme launched by US president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to alleviate poverty and unemployment during the Great Depression whilst simultaneously carrying out large scale landscape restoration and conservation work.

[12] Van der Werf advocates extensively on the benefits of social approaches to conservation and has gathered growing political support for his work.