The Consulting Industry in Wetland Rehabilitation

Abstract

Consultants play and will continue to play a major role in wetland rehabilitation. However, consulting practices often do not further progress in the field. The lack of consultant contributions to the peer-reviewed literature or peer-reviewed analyses of projects by consultants, the difficulties in accessing consultant reports, and a perceived need by many consultants to limit outside reviews of their work reduce the ability of others to learn from that work. Additionally, the contrasts between the near-absence of peer-reviewed data or results and the number and character of consultant advertisements, coupled with philosophical issues in rehabilitation, have led to a schizophrenic perspective on the role of consultants—from that of most consultants, who feel they generally do a more than adequate job, to others who feel that much consultant-derived rehabilitation is unsuccessful.