Pp. viii+215. Sainty & Associates Pty Ltd., NSW, Australia. ISBN 0-646-36509-6. Price US$12.95 (paperback). This thought-provoking book deals with the science of wetland rehabilitation and the people who work to improve our ability to rehabilitate this threatened ecosystem. The publication allows the reader to understand the way scientists conduct wetland research and the status of wetland rehabilitation science. It provides a real opportunity to evaluate the capacity of wetland rehabilitation to halt wetland losses and potentially reverse past wetland losses world-wide. The book describes the author’s participation in the Koorang Wetland Rehabilitation Project in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, and also provides relevant anecdotes from other parts of the world. It discusses the vegetation, bird, fish, benthic invertebrate, and economic valuation research components of the Koorang project. The author discusses specific wetland research, rehabilitation and management issues, ranging from the pros and cons of vegetative versus engineered erosion control methods, defining biodiversity, measuring productivity in salt marshes using infrared gas analysis equipment, and using spatially replicated Before-After/Control-Impact designs to analyze observed impacts, to name a few. These discussions provide information and ask provocative questions in a manner that can be appreciated by both the wetland professional and layperson. The account demonstrates a process and illustrates the types of research questions that can be addressed to achieve effective wetland rehabilitation. This information is globally transferable. Because goals for a specific wetland rehabilitation project are determined by community values, available resources, and perhaps local politics, and because wetland functions drastically differ by region and class, the information provided by this book is potentially more useful for guiding international wetland rehabilitation than any manual. At some points the book leaves the reader feeling skeptical about attempts to reverse wetland degradation. The book reveals that wetland rehabilitation is a very young science, that it is difficult to achieve functional equivalency, and that it is problematic to even determine if created and restored wetlands are comparable to natural wetlands. The author’s detailed examples allow the reader to understand the significant amount of time and resources that must be allocated to answer a single research question, and the results of this painstaking research may not even be used to better manage and conserve wetlands. The author explains how successful wetland rehabilitation must account for alterations to adjacent terrestrial and aquatic systems, revealing how difficult it is to return a wetland system to a relatively undisturbed state when adjacent areas have been so drastically, and perhaps irreversibly, altered by people. The author also points out that despite ambitious wetland policies in the U.S., there is still a significant annual net loss of wetland area, and many rehabilitation projects that replace natural wetlands are failures. At other points, the book invokes optimism concerning our ability to replace the 50% of our world’s lost wetlands by showing that people are gradually recognizing the importance of conserving and rehabilitating wetlands, and that there are demonstrable conservation and rehabilitation successes world-wide. The book ends on a somewhat positive note: the author explains that the Koorang Wetland Rehabilitation Project contributes information valuable to wetland managers, trains students who are our future scientists and conservationists, and performs outreach to help build support for wetlands conservation. The author also points out that, globally, wetlands management and conservation have improved significantly over the past few decades, providing justification for optimism, and room for pride to be a part of efforts to protect wetlands.