Nestlé Waters North AmericaNestle Waters North America

Since 1999, Nestlé Waters has supported The Nature Conservancy by committing more than $2 million toward its conservation work. Through its Poland Spring brand, Nestlé Waters North America provided its first gift of $1 million in support of Conservancy efforts to purchase 185,000 acres of remote forestland along 40 miles of the Upper St. John River in Maine. The company’s gift was recognized at the time by Governor Angus King as part of a partnership between private business and private conservation to help secure Maine’s natural heritage.

About Nestlé Waters North America

Nestlé Waters North America Inc. launched in 1976 importing the French sparkling water Perrier, which appealed to Americans just beginning to look at adopting a healthier lifestyle. Today Nestlé Waters’ portfolio includes Arrowhead, Calistoga, Deer Park, Great Bear, Ice Mountain, Ozarka, Poland Spring, and Zephyrhills bottled waters. It also sells Aberfoyle from Canada; Acqua Panna and S.Pellegrino from Italy; and Perrier and Vittel from France.

About this Partnership

In 2004, Nestlé Waters North America came forward again with a $1million gift to help The Nature Conservancy's Global Freshwater Program develop and demonstrate sustainable water management practices, and to help conserve some of the world’s most biologically diverse freshwater systems. Conservancy efforts are focusing on developing new approaches to water resource management that address the needs of people without degrading the health of freshwater systems. 

Nestlé's support will help the Conservancy build technical expertise as it tries to: define "best management practices" for the water industry; foster dialogues and training workshops; and advance demonstration sites of ecologically sustainable water management.

Of this new commitment, $300,000 is being divided evenly among three Conservancy projects in Maine and Pennsylvania:

·         The Katahdin Forest Project, Maine ($100,000). The lands around Mount Katahdin boast thousands of acres of mature forests, some of which have not been harvested in nearly 100 years. The 241,000-acre Katahdin Forest property includes the Debsconeag Lakes region, which contains the highest concentration of remote ponds in New England and encompasses a 15-mile section of the Appalachian Trail’s “Hundred Mile Wilderness.” Kent Wommack, former Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in Maine, praised business leaders like Nestlé Waters North America who “recognize that when they invest their time and money in conservation, it’s good for business, good for their customers, employees and neighbors. It’s good for Maine. We applaud their efforts."

·         The Penobscot River Restoration Project, Maine ($100,000). The Nature Conservancy is playing a leading role in this innovative and nationally acclaimed restoration project, which provides Maine with an historic opportunity to restore one of New England’s most magnificent watersheds.  By improving access to more than 1,000 miles of river habitat while maintaining hydropower capacity, the Penobscot project serves as a global model for balancing habitat and energy needs.  With help from Nestlé Waters North America, the Conservancy and its partners will test the feasibility of a new, integrated model of river system conservation that involves a wide range of institutional partners and a variety of technical practices across an entire ecosystem.  This ambitious initiative is a cornerstone of The Nature Conservancy’s current conservation work in Maine. 

The Long Pond Project, Pennsylvania ($100,000). Nestled along the southern escarpment of the Pocono plateau in northeastern Pennsylvania, the Long Pond landscape embodies the region’s boreal heritage, harboring species tolerant to the cooler temperatures that marked its glacial past. Representing the only natural community of its kind in the world, the mesic till barrens at Long Pond intersperse a vast landscape of swamps, bogs, marshes and shallow ponds surrounded by red spruce, balsam fir and eastern hemlock. The landscape includes 40 rare species and communities. Portions of this unique area overlap the watersheds that feed the Bethlehem Authority’s water supply. The Nature Conservancy and the Bethlehem Authority have a shared interest in and commitment to conservation at Long Pond, and are working together to develop a voluntary, standards-based, global water certification program that would recognize water providers and users who promote responsible stewardship of water resources and protect and enhance freshwater ecosystems.  Drawing on its land and water management experience, the Bethlehem Authority will be particularly instrumental in developing the program’s standards.

 Conservation Highlights
Nestlé Waters support will go toward:

Learn more about the progress Nestlé Waters North America is making toward environmental sustainability.

For More Information:

Press release on Nestlé Waters North America's recent $1 million commitment to The Nature Conservancy