Our Story

The creation of the Wetland Restoration Section began at the 2012 SWS Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida USA. The founder and first Chair of the Section, Andy Herb, pitched the idea to a small group of SWS members at the meeting to gauge interest and solicit feedback. These and other SWS members became the core of the founding committee that developed the goals, rationale, and proposed activities for the Section Proposal that was submitted to the SWS Board of Directors for approval in early 2013. The Section was approved, and the first Section-hosted symposium was held at the SWS Annual Meeting in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. The Section rapidly became SWS's largest section and has hosted wetland restoration-focused symposia every year since.

Mission and Vision

Our mission is to advance research and application in restoration fields that regulate wetlands.

The vision of the SWS Wetland Restoration Section is to achieve:

The delivery of more successful wetland restoration projects through improved exchange of information and expertise among wetland practitioners, regulators, and researchers

Enhanced dissemination of information on wetland restoration, both within and beyond SWS

Improved identification and promotion of best practice in the design, implementation, and monitoring of wetland restoration projects

A positive contribution to the definition of terms, metrics, and measures of success in wetland restoration

Goals

The goals of the Section include:

To encourage the sharing of scientific, theoretical, and technical data regarding wetland restoration between the applied, academic, and regulatory sectors of the wetland science arena. In this context, wetland restoration is defined in the broadest sense, including wetland reclamation, rehabilitation, and mitigation.
To create a discussion forum for issues related to wetland restoration including projects driven by local issues (e.g. regulation in the United States through the Clean Water Act permitting process), or national/international perspectives (e.g. the delivery of the Convention on Biological Diversity's Aichi Biodiversity Targets) via symposia organized at the annual meetings of the Society of Wetland Scientists, internet discussion, and/or other informal networking.
To provide opportunities and support for students working on issues related to wetland restoration through granting of research awards, educational outreach at special symposia, and poster sessions at annual SWS meetings.
Through the advent of a dedicated website for the section membership, provide a forum for the exchange of wetland restoration ideas and information.
Sponsor a symposium at the annual meeting that addresses topics related to wetland restoration, including those associated with the Clean Water Act permitting in the United States as well as issues from other countries. The theme will vary annually, but the link to the wetland restoration agenda will remain consistent. A subcommittee of the Wetland Restoration Section will coordinate the annual theme, including the procurement of presentations.