Partnership Spotlight

Keeping Our Water Clean through Forest Conservation

Local Collaborative Builds Support and Funding for Healthy Forests

By Matt Inbusch, International Paper, and Lisa Lord, The Longleaf Alliance

International Paper Savannah Containerboard Mill. Photo courtesy of International Paper.

People often view forests from a forest production, wildlife habitat, or recreational perspective, but healthy, well-managed forests also help keep drinking water safe, reliable, and affordable. In the United States, nearly two-thirds of freshwater comes from forested watersheds. How forests are retained and managed impacts the quality and the quantity of water from them.

Southeastern forests face threats such as forestland conversion, climate change, and forest diseases, causing drinking water quality and quantity declines. Watershed collaboratives are forming all over the country, combatting these threats by bringing forward their collective resources around a common goal of protecting their local forested watershed. There are many different types of ecosystem financing mechanisms to fund watershed activities, including those where the beneficiaries (utilities or water customers) pay through utility rates or fees, bonds, state revolving funds, or other revenue streams and sustainable markets.

These watershed collaboratives are an important new strategy for water conservation and forest retention. Together these coalitions can leverage their combined resources and achieve significant benefits. Forestland conservation and stewardship clearly benefit drinking water and public health, but they also benefit forest landowners and local economies. Landowners have an essential role to play, as most large drinking water supplies in the southeast originate in forested headwaters, much of which are privately owned.

Building the Coalition to Support Drinking Water

The 2.8-million-acre Savannah River Watershed provides drinking water to more than 1.5 million people in two states. And one collaborative, the Savannah River Clean Water Fund (Fund), has been actively working to protect the lower Savannah River basin since 2014. The Fund coordinates efforts among public water utilities in Georgia and South Carolina, state environmental and forestry agencies, local land trusts, and others to facilitate a holistic approach to land protection in the watershed. It is a ground-breaking example of how actors from unique sectors can work cooperatively to protect water resources. The Fund also overlaps the South Lowcountry – ACE Basin (SoLoAce) Longleaf Partnership’s focal area and works closely with the partnership to identify properties for protection or restoration.

“The Fund’s goal is to keep 60% of the lower watershed (around 1.67 million acres) in forests by protecting the 210,000 highest priority acres in terms of water quality impact,” says Lisa Lord, Conservation Programs Director with The Longleaf Alliance. “Collaborating with partners like International Paper

International Paper Joins the Partnership

In 2019, International Paper, one of the world’s leading producers of renewable, fiber-based packaging, pulp and paper, joined the Fund with the goal of helping the collaborative permanently protect and responsibly manage forests – nature’s original water filter – in the Savannah River Watershed.

International Paper owns and operates two mills in the area: Port Wentworth Pulp Mill, which produces pulp used in diapers, tissue, and other personal hygiene products, and Savannah Containerboard Mill, which produces the essential material used to create corrugated packaging. Both mills rely on a sustainable supply of water from the Savannah River for their operations.

“This project is important for us, as this watershed’s vast wetlands and forests contain the natural resources all of us depend on to filter clean water for all the water users in this community,” says Sophie Beckham, Chief Sustainability Officer, International Paper. “As one of the largest users of fiber, we are committed to lead forest stewardship efforts globally. Our entire business depends upon the sustainability of forests and the ecosystems that they support.”

International Paper’s Vision 2030 goals underscore the company’s commitment to building a better future for people and the planet. The goals include an increased focus on water stewardship, with plans to reduce operational water use 25% by 2030, and support watershed health in partnership with local water users and stakeholders. As part of Vision 2030, the company will look to apply the Savannah River model in other watersheds where it operates.

“We’re excited to be the first private-sector partner to join the Fund,” says Matt Inbusch, Senior Manager for Sustainable Operations at International Paper. “Our hope is that we can help open the door to other potential partners who share our interest in protecting and sustaining the Lower Savannah for the long-term.” Supporting On-the-Ground Implementation

A U.S. Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration grant, awarded to the Georgia Forestry Commission, leverages International Paper’s support, making it possible to collaboratively employ hydrological, environmental, and social data to identify high-priority parcels for forest protection. The University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources leads the conservation planning effort. International Paper’s support is also helping build a foundation to engage local communities, landowners, and industry in supporting the Fund’s long-term success.

This focus on the co-benefits of forest and water complements International Paper’s long-running support for Southeastern forest conservation. Launched in 2013, the Forestland Stewards Partnership between International Paper and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and enhances ecologically important forestlands and coastal savannas in ten southern states.

Lower Savannah River Watershed. Map by South Carolina Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. The Savannah River Clean Water Fund has helped protect over 14,000 acres with its land protection partners in the watershed with contributions from two drinking water utilities, Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority and the City of Savannah. Going forward, with the help of International Paper and other partners, including The Longleaf Alliance and The Nature Conservancy, the Fund is continuing to focus on creating sustainable funding for land protection projects, building an economic case for protecting water supplies through land protection, and developing a business plan to increase its overall conservation outcomes.

New partnerships, such as the Savannah River Clean Water Fund, where every stakeholder has a seat at the table, will help keep our southern working forests as forests.

Find more information at savannahrivercleanwater.org.