The Role of Landscape Architects and Wetlands

Abstract

The broad educational background, experience, and employment history of a landscape architect encompasses the elements of design and engineering, thereby bridging the traditional licensed professional fields of architecture, engineering, and natural sciences that are typically involved in the design and management of wetlands. The landscape architect’s education and experience is typically diverse and provides a broad and somewhat unique multidisciplinary perspective to projects. On wetland creation, enhancement, and restoration projects they convey important design and aesthetic components to the regulatory agencies and general public. As environmental and regulatory issues come to the forefront of wetland design and planning, landscape architects are playing an increasingly greater and perhaps more important role in the design, restoration, and management of wetland projects. Understanding the science of wetlands as well as their aesthetic application in wetland construction and stormwater management will become more important, especially for those projects located in densely populated areas of major cities and suburbs. For the general public, graphic communication of the design is critical to acceptance of the project. With the advent of more realistic computer programs the reality of the future wetland landscape has become more apparent and therefore, visually understood by the client. In many instances, the success of a project, regardless of the total cost, hinges directly on aesthetics and how the societal and ecological benefits are communicated to, and understood by the public.