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The Wetland Book pp 877–881Cite as

Compensation in Wetlands

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Abstract

Compensation in the wetland context generally refers to actions taken to offset residual impacts of activities that adversely affect wetlands. Compensation will typically occur as the third stage of the avoid-mitigate-compensate sequence; that is, compensation is utilized when a development project cannot avoid wetland impacts, and steps to mitigate or minimize those unavoidable impacts do not reduce the impact level to zero or some minimal threshold. Depending on the jurisdiction, compensation may also be called an offset or compensatory mitigation or similar terms. A compensation requirement can be part of a policy that seeks to achieve an overall “no net loss” of wetland area and/or function. For example, regulations promulgated by the US Environmental Protection Agency and US Army Corps of Engineers (2008), the wetland regulatory agencies under the US Clean Water Act offer working definitions.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy, Stetson University College of Law, 1401 61st Street South, 33707-3299, Gulfport, FL, USA

    Royal C. Gardner

  2. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, 1401 61st Street South, 33707-3299, Albury, New South Wales, Australia

    Royal C. Gardner

  3. UNESCO-IHE, 1401 61st Street South, 33707-3299, Delft, The Netherlands

    Royal C. Gardner

Authors
  1. Royal C. Gardner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Royal C. Gardner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    C. Max Finlayson

  2. International Water Security Network, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Mark Everard

  3. UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands

    Kenneth Irvine

  4. RM Wetlands and Environment Ltd., Littleworth, Oxfordshire, UK

    Robert J. McInnes

  5. U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, Lafayette, LA, USA

    Beth A. Middleton

  6. Aquatic Ecosystems Group, Department of Water Science and Engineering, UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands

    Anne A. van Dam

  7. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    Nick C. Davidson

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© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature

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Gardner, R.C. (2018). Compensation in Wetlands. In: Finlayson, C.M., et al. The Wetland Book. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9659-3_186

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