Documentary Highlights Investments in Forests for Water Conservation through the Savannah River Clean Water Fund
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2022
Contact: Zach Clifton
zach@gfagrow.org
FORSYTH, Georgia – Keeping Forests, through a partnership with the Georgia Forestry Foundation, recently released a short documentary to bring awareness to the importance of forests to drinking water quality and quantity while highlighting the Savannah River Clean Water Fund, a forests and water conservation success story.
Forests provide an abundant, affordable supply of water by improving aquifer recharge, moderating water flow, reducing soil erosion, and reducing drinking water treatment and transportation costs. Georgia’s forested landscape provides clean drinking water for 5.9 million citizens, or 57 percent of the state’s population. The Savannah River itself serves over 550,000 people across the 2.1 million acre watershed.
Clean drinking water is one of the most valuable resources provided by the 245 million acres of forestland in the U.S. South, of which 86% is privately owned,” said Ken Arney, Regional Forester of the U.S. Forest Service Southern Region, headquartered in Atlanta. “I’m proud of the efforts of the Forest Service and our many partners that ensure our clean and abundant water resources are protected for future generations.
The documentary, titled The Forest Filter, explores the conservation efforts of the Savannah River Clean Water Fund (The Fund), an ecosystem services partnership that includes portions of Georgia and South Carolina along the Savannah River. With 86 percent of forests in the U.S. South being owned and managed by families and businesses, privately-owned forests are the most significant factor contributing to a healthy supply of source water. Keeping Forests, a regional partnership of more than 40 organizations, is focused on highlighting models that compensate private landowners for the range of benefits - like clean air and water - that originate in their forests.
“By working with private landowners to conserve and manage their land in this watershed and compensating the landowners for for the public benefit that their forests provides we are ensuring a safe, reliable, and affordable source of water for the public, while also supporting the economic prosperity of the region, and protecting the environmental and recreational benefits that come from the river,” said Lisa Lord, Conservation Programs Director, The Longleaf Alliance. “The diversity of public and private partners working together to support water quality in the Basin is testament to the importance of forests to the economic, environmental, and cultural future of the region.”
The Fund includes a broad group of stakeholders, including drinking water utilities and corporations participating as investors in efforts to sustain the local forests’ ability to provide water ecosystem service benefits for communities and companies operating in the Savannah River watershed.
“Protecting forested areas in our watershed is one way that water utilities help ensure clean, reliable drinking water for the citizens of our region,” said Joe Mantua, General Manager of the Beaufort - Jasper Water & Sewer Authority. “Cleaner water coming into our treatment facilities results in less chemicals, a more simplified process and ultimately lower costs.”
In addition, the documentary will be used to engage local corporations that depend on a reliable source of water for their operations. In 2020, International Paper became the first private sector partner in the Fund, aligned with IP’s Vision 2030 sustainability strategy and directly supporting its two paper mills in the area.
“The Fund is important for us, as the Savannah River watershed’s vast wetlands and forests contain the natural resources all of us depend on to filter clean water for this community,” said Sophie Beckham, Chief Sustainability Officer, International Paper. “At International Paper, we are committed to leading forest stewardship efforts globally. Our entire business depends upon the sustainability of forests and the ecosystems they support.”
The Forest Filter will be used as a part of a campaign to raise awareness of source water conservation using ecosystem service markets with water professionals, legislators and key decision makers across the state and the U.S. South. The goal of the campaign will be to replicate these types of public-private partnerships focused on source water protection through conservation projects with private forest landowners.
“Privately-owned working forests continue to provide so many benefits for our survival, comfort and progress,” said Andres Villegas, President & CEO of the Georgia Forestry Foundation. “The economic and environmental sustainability of our forests are tied together. In order to maximize the benefits of clean water from our forests, we must find market-based systems that encourage and reward private landowners for practices that enhance the quality and quantity of drinking water in Georgia.”
The documentary was produced by Keeping Forests and the Georgia Forestry Foundation with support from International Paper and Georgia-Pacific and in collaboration with The Longleaf Alliance, the U.S. Endowment for Forests & Communities, the Georgia Forestry Commission, South Carolina Forestry Commission, and the Southeastern Partnership for Forests & Water. The documentary features perspectives from the South Carolina Conservation Bank, the Nature Conservancy, the Lowcountry Land Trust, the Beaufort-Jasper Sewer & Water Authority and the City of Savannah.
You can watch The Forest Filter online at www.keepingforests.org/documentary. Watch trailer at https://youtu.be/CekA13UVrcs. For more information, please contact Zach Clifton, Keeping Forests Communications Specialist at zach@gfagrow.org.
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About International Paper
International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a leading global supplier of renewable fiber-based products. We produce corrugated packaging products that protect and promote goods, and enable worldwide commerce, and pulp for diapers, tissue and other personal care products that promote health and wellness. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 38,000 colleagues globally. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2021 were $19.4 billion. Additional information can be found by visiting InternationalPaper.com.
