Wadden centre and seal rescue in Lauwersoog face bankruptcy within two weeks

The World Heritage Centre Wadden Sea (WEC) in Lauwersoog will file for bankruptcy within two weeks unless a last-ditch rescue plan succeeds. The municipality of Het Hogeland and the province of Groningen told the centre last week that they see no role for themselves in keeping it financially afloat. The management published its warning on Monday.

A bankruptcy would cost 40 people their jobs and end the seal rescue. The WEC said it would mean seals in distress could no longer be taken in. The seal rescue from Pieterburen continues at the centre.

Director Bas Wemmenhove said the organisation has no prospects left. “We have no prospects at the moment,” he said. “And that means we can only draw one conclusion.” He said staff were told on Monday morning. “We feel incredibly abandoned,” he said.

The municipality said it and the province had been in talks with the WEC since autumn 2025 and had carefully explored several solutions. “Unfortunately this has not led to a future-proof solution, and it could not be solved within the rules on state aid,” it said in a statement.

The new building opened in April 2025, and the seal rescue foundation moved to Lauwersoog last year.

Creditors were told on Monday and are unhappy. Biense Dijkstra, director of Dijkstra Draisma, the Dokkum building firm that is the largest creditor, said the company received a written proposal from the WEC out of the blue. It replied in writing with a possible solution and an offer to talk. “We have received no response to date,” he said.

Ynze Elzinga of Elzinga, another Dokkum contractor, said he was disappointed. “I have had better afternoons,” he said.

Wemmenhove called the WEC one of the province's biggest tourist attractions and said a bankruptcy would end an organisation with more than 50 years of history. He said he does not understand the authorities' decision and had not received a clear explanation of it.