Willem is founder of the Ecosystem Return Foundation that scales up existing ecosystem restoration projects by shaping developing companies, generating four returns: on investment and natural, social and inspiration capital. He is Executive Fellow Business & Ecosystems at the Rotterdam School of Management – Erasmus University, special advisor of the IUCN Commission Ecosystem Management and partner at Camunico.

Between 2000-2012 he was director of the Dutch chapter of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In that period he created the Ecosystem Grants Programme, that financed 1,500 local conservation projects in 40 tropical countries. In 2005 he founded Leaders for Nature, an international business network on biodiversity and ecosystems. He convened 80 CEOs to sign an open letter to the Dutch government, which led to the governmental Taskforce on Biodiversity and Natural Resources. In 2010 he signed an agreement on business & biodiversity between the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers and IUCN NL. It resulted in the platform on Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Economy. Ferwerda is an expert in multi-stakeholder processes and bridge builder. He is board member and advisor of several institutions and companies, such as Princess Irene’s Nature College Foundation, the Charles Darwin Foundation and RWE-NL. He studied tropical ecology and agriculture, environmental science and management in the Netherlands and Colombia.