SERCA is a first-of-its-kind global collaboration to transform how the world's protected and conserved areas are managed. It unites the world's most widely used conservation management platforms, proven field experience, and global training resources into a single, free support system for those safeguarding wildlife, habitats, and the people who depend on them.
SMART and EarthRanger each spent over a decade building tools to improve conservation management effectiveness, and both succeeded. As they grew, so did the opportunity to combine their complementary strengths into something greater. By aligning governance, integrating capabilities, and pooling resources behind a single partnership, SERCA is built for the whole conservation community. Fundamentally, it is a commitment to the people on the ground, those stewarding the world's most important landscapes and ecosystems, giving them the tools, training, and collective backing of a global alliance behind every decision they make in the field.
SERCA is developing a unified suite of tools — SERCA Web, SERCA Mobile, and SERCA Desktop — that brings together the strengths of SMART and EarthRanger into a single platform for conservation management effectiveness. The new unified platform provides a diverse set of functions, including patrol planning, real-time field operations, collection of a wide range of data types, powerful analysis, and rich reporting. SERCA Web, Mobile, and Desktop are being developed to work seamlessly together, sharing information, capabilities, look, and feel across connected and offline environments.
SERCA is also being developed as a home for a broader ecosystem of interoperable conservation tools, including Ecoscope, Gundi, wpsWatch, Akili, and others. Interested in joining the ecosystem? Reach out at info@serca.org.
SERCA Web and Mobile are in active development and on track to launch later this year or early next year. SERCA Desktop will follow, with major milestones planned across the next two years, with sites engaged as early adopters as we roll out. In the meantime, SMART and EarthRanger remain free, fully operational, and actively being improved, serving thousands of sites worldwide. They are the right tools to use today.
That depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Here is a starting point:
--If your priority is patrol planning, systematic surveys, or extensive offline use, SMART is a good fit today.
--If you need real-time and/or historical visibility, including live tracking of rangers, vehicles, wildlife and events, EarthRanger is a good fit today.
Many sites use both, and SMART and EarthRanger have a set of integrations that allow some data to be shared between platforms, which is precisely why SERCA exists. SERCA is being developed to bring the best of both together seamlessly, and EarthRanger is rapidly expanding its capabilities in the meantime.
For sites starting fresh today, it is worth speaking to our Adoption team first, as the pathway to SERCA may be a relevant factor in your decision.
Reach out at info@serca.org, and we will help you find the right fit for your context.
Yes. The SERCA suite of tools will remain free for all conservation users, consistent with the model under which both SMART and EarthRanger have always operated.
Yes. Existing SMART and EarthRanger data will not be lost during the transition. Your data comes with you, and you will not be starting from scratch. SERCA is built on the principle that conservation data belongs to the practitioners and organizations that collect it.
Yes. SERCA's suite of tools will be built with data security at its core. All data will be completely owned by the end user. Security will be highly configurable. Access can be set by area, species, time, role, and beyond. SERCA Web will be hosted on industry-leading cloud infrastructure, while SERCA Desktop will be designed to keep data local for sites with strict data sovereignty requirements or no or very limited connectivity. Data transmitted online will be encrypted in storage and during transmission. Regular security audits will be conducted, data will be retained indefinitely unless deletion is requested, and automatic backups will be in place for cloud-hosted data. These standards will not change as the suite evolves.
It depends on your situation. Some sites may be ready to begin exploring SERCA tools as soon as they are available, while others will want to wait until the suite more fully meets their specific needs. There is no pressure either way. SMART users will be encouraged to transition when the available SERCA tools meet their needs. For sites with significant offline requirements, this will likely coincide with the release of SERCA Desktop. Sites that can operate primarily online may be able to adopt SERCA Web sooner, as relevant SMART functionality becomes available there.
As the existing EarthRanger platform evolves into SERCA Web, the transition will be straightforward and clearly communicated. EarthRanger Web and Mobile will evolve into SERCA Web and Mobile, enhanced with SMART capabilities, while SERCA Desktop will provide the types of functionality currently offered by SMART, fully integrated with Web and Mobile. In this way, sites with a broad range of requirements and operating conditions will be fully supported by a single, unified platform. While we are confident that the new SERCA suite will meet the needs of existing SMART and EarthRanger users, no site should feel pressure to move before SERCA can genuinely serve its needs.
SMART Desktop is evolving into SERCA Desktop, a full-featured component of the SERCA ecosystem that can be used fully offline or in a range of connectivity scenarios. SERCA Desktop will align with SERCA Web in look and feel and include many functionalities for users who choose to make use of its online capabilities. Seamless syncing with SERCA Web is available for users opting to deploy online whenever connectivity is obtainable. Importantly, SERCA Desktop will be a powerful tool not just for remote sites, but for any site that experiences connectivity interruptions or for which a disconnected environment is preferable. SERCA Desktop is also being designed to keep data local for sites with strict data sovereignty requirements.
The Alliance is making significant investments to deliver SERCA Desktop so it meets the full range of needs of the global conservation community. This is a multi-year effort. When SERCA Desktop is ready, SMART users will have ample notice and several years of continued support before any transition takes place. The conservation methodology and approaches pioneered in SMART will continue to be available in SERCA.
SERCA is being built with you in mind. The skills, workflows, and institutional knowledge you have built over years of practice are not going anywhere. These are the foundations SERCA is built on. We will be with you every step of the way, providing the support, training, and guidance to make the next steps as smooth as possible.
SERCA is designed by and for conservationists. If you want to shape what gets built, join the SERCA Beta Program and bring your voice to the table.
Yes. Training programs for both SMART and EarthRanger continue and will evolve to incorporate SERCA fundamentals, including the adaptive management cycle, as the suite develops. Capacity building is a core pillar of SERCA, not an afterthought, and investment in training will grow to ensure every user is fully onboarded and equipped to get the most out of SERCA’s tools. Full SERCA-specific training will be developed and released in step with the suite.
SERCA provides direct technical support for both SMART and EarthRanger users, with dedicated partner teams available for onboarding, troubleshooting, and transition planning. Regular virtual training keeps practitioners current as the platform evolves. SERCA is building toward a shared services model — unified training programs, standardized manuals, and other resources that no single organization could develop alone.
The promise of SERCA runs in both directions. The community benefits from the collective investment of the Alliance, and the Alliance is strengthened by knowledge flowing back from the field – including through our Beta Program Insights generated through this global network, which have the potential to inform national policy, regional strategies, and global biodiversity commitments.
SERCA is built in service of practitioners, and practitioner feedback directly shapes development priorities. The SERCA Beta Program is the best way to get early access to new tools and have a direct line to the product team. You can also reach the team directly at info@serca.org.
SERCA is built on the combined foundations of SMART and EarthRanger, and governed by nine of the world's leading conservation organizations and technology innovators: Ai2 (Allen Institute for AI), Frankfurt Zoological Society, North Carolina Zoo, Panthera, Re:Wild, Wildlife Conservation Society, Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS), WWF, and Zoological Society of London. Together, they bring decades of field experience and scientific expertise required to accelerate the way our planet is protected. Practitioner voices are central to SERCA's governance through the Practitioner Council, which directly shapes development priorities and adoption approaches.
