15% Protected. Is it Enough?
Protecting What Matters, Part 2: How Much is Enough?
Greenville County has made an important start on protecting green spaces. Just under 15% of the county's land is estimated to have some form of permanent protection.
But there is an important distinction hidden inside that number: Protected land does not always equal publicly accessible land.
The largest single share of Greenville County's protected acreage is associated with Greenville Water's protected mountain watersheds -- 1,000's of acres permanently protected under a conservation easement held by The Nature Conservancy.
That protection provides enormous benefits: Clean drinking water. Wildlife habitat. Forest protection. Flood and stormwater benefits. But Greenville Water restricts general public access to protect its drinking-water supply.
That is conservation doing exactly what it was intended to do ... but it doesn't provide most residents with a place to walk, hike, play, or experience nature.
Is 15% Enough?
The world's conservation community has increasingly rallied around 30x30 -- a goal of effectively conserving at least 30% of the world's lands and waters by 2030.
More than 190 countries adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework that calls for conserving 30% of terrestrial and inland-water areas, with particular attention to biodiversity, ecosystem functions, connectivity and effective management.
Why? Because protected natural landscapes don't just look beautiful. THEY WORK FOR US. Absorbing rainfall and reducing flooding. Protecting streams and water quality. Providing connected wildlife habitat. Storing carbon and cooling our communities. Protecting farms, forests, and rural character. AND Providing places for people to experience nature.
So How Could Greenville County Get There?
Not by turning 30% of Greenville County into public parks. Instead, we need a portfolio of conservation strategies.
PROTECT THE BIG PLACES: Secure large forest tracts, mountains, watersheds, and natural areas while they are still available. This can primarily be achieved by adding to our state and regional county parks. That's what we are doing in northern Greenville County.
Connect What is Already Protected: Protect stream corridors, floodplains, and wildlife corridors that link existing conserved lands. Global conservation guidance emphasizes that protected lands should be connected, not isolated ecological islands.
Protect Working Farms and Forests: Use voluntary conservation easements to keep productive farmland and forests in private ownership. That's the emphasis for southern Greenville County.
Protect Our Rivers and Streams: Prioritize floodplains and riparian corridors along the Saludas, Reedy, Enoree and their tributaries ... protecting habitat while providing natural flood protection.
Create More Publicly Accessible Land: Strategically acquire land for regional parks, trails, river access and natural areas -- especially in parts of the County where residents currently have little access to protected greenspace.
Leverage Every Local Dollar: Combine Greenville County funding with state conservation dollars, federal programs, municipalities, utilities, land trusts and private philanthropy. The Greenville County Historic & Natural Resources Trust's approved projects have leveraged $5.18 in total project value for every $1 of County investment. The South Carolina Office of Resilience reports an 18:1 return on investment when greenspaces are protected!
BUT 30% ISN'T JUST ABOUT ACRES.
WHERE we protect land matters as much as HOW MUCH we protect. Greenville County should seek a conservation network that includes:
Headwaters
Mountains
Farms
Forests
Streams
Rivers
Parks
Trails
Neighborhoods
The goal should be a connected system of protected landscapes that keeps nature functioning even as Greenville County continues to grow.
The County's own conservation criteria already point us in this direction prioritizing wetlands, streams, wildlife habitat, biological diversity, adjacency to existing protected land, farmland, public access, and fragile lands threatened by development.
The Question Isn’t Whether Greenville County Will Grow
It is what we choose to save while we grow. 15% protected is a strong foundation. Could 30% be our goal for the next generation? Because once an important forest, farm, floodplain, or wildlife corridor is lost we rarely get a second chance to protect it. And, even if we do, restoration costs many times more than protection before it is altered.
