The role of forests in ensuring clean drinking water for cities around the world is well recognised by the scientific community The permeable nature of forest soils means that water can infiltrate rapidly and percolate out slowly over a period of days to months. Rapid infiltration and water storage can mitigate many of the effects of small floods (which are responsible for about half of all flood damages) and help to alleviate drought by releasing previously stored rainfall during dry periods. Forests can also help to purify polluted water in agricultural and urban areas. With their permeable soils and high infiltration capacity, forests can also be important locations for groundwater recharge.

While the water-related provisioning and regulating ecosystem services provided by forests and other forms of green infrastructure have been extensively documented in the scientific literature, awareness amongst the public, stakeholders and decision-makers is lacking. This lack of awareness amongst land managers, responsible authorities and the public hamper efforts to implement and pay for green infrastructure that can augment or replace the ageing and expensive grey infrastructure currently used to provide clean drinking water and regulate water flows in Europe and elsewhere. With the film and other activities, the project will communicate this awareness.