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Good practice Imported

Danone-AQUA Rejoso Kita Watershed PES (Indonesia)

Indonesia · Pasuruan · See the Indonesia profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 64% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Corporate PES in East Java where PT Tirta Investama (Danone-AQUA Keboncandi) pays 174 upstream farmers USD 100–215/ha/yr across 106.6 ha to maintain tree cover, restoring infiltration to protect the Umbulan spring serving 1.3 million people.

17%
Umbulan spring discharge decline (2007-2013)
1.3 million
Population served by Umbulan spring
174
Farmers enrolled
12
Farmer groups involved
106.6 hectares
Land area under PES contract
USD 100-215 (Rp 1.5-3.2 million) per hectare per year
Payment rate
0.5-1%
Increase in infiltration
1.5-2% of annual rainfall
Reduction in surface runoff
47,000+
Trees replanted or preserved
Danone-AQUA Rejoso Kita Watershed PES (Indonesia)

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
PT Tirta Investama (Danone-AQUA) / CIFOR-ICRAF
Period
2015–present
Keywords
corporate watershed, water security, PES, agroforestry

Context

The Rejoso watershed in Pasuruan, East Java, feeds the Umbulan spring — the source for Danone-AQUA's largest bottled-water factory in Indonesia (Keboncandi) and the primary drinking water supply for 1.3 million people. Between 2007 and 2013, spring discharge fell by 17% due to deforestation and land-use change on volcanic upper slopes.

Objectives

From 2015, the Rejoso Kita initiative — led by World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and Danone-AQUA — designed a landscape-scale payment for ecosystem services (PES) mechanism.

Activities

A reverse group auction identified 174 farmers from 12 farmer groups in seven villages across Tosari and Pasrepan sub-districts, managing 106.6 hectares of upland agricultural land. PT Tirta Investama (the Keboncandi factory) acts as the formal PES buyer, paying Rp 1.5-3.2 million/ha/year (USD 100-215/ha/year) in exchange for performance-based conservation obligations: maintaining 300-500 trees per hectare, installing erosion-retaining grass strips, and digging rorak (contour gutters) between crop rows to increase rainwater infiltration.

Results

CIFOR-ICRAF research (published 2018) showed that replicating these practices at scale can increase infiltration by 0.5-1% and reduce surface runoff by 1.5-2% of annual rainfall. Canopy cover above 55% is associated with adequate infiltration and acceptable erosion levels. More than 47,000 trees have been replanted or preserved under the programme.

Conclusions

The Rejoso Kita model has attracted co-investment from an Indonesian Water Coalition (including Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Unilever, L'Oréal, and Heineken Indonesia) to extend landscape-scale action across the broader Brantas River basin.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Direct payments to 174 farmers over 106.6 hectares at USD 100-215/ha/year imply a modest annual direct-payment cost (roughly $10,000-23,000/year); a medium cost band is used to account for programme design, monitoring and coalition-building costs not itemised in the source.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Rejoso Kita has run since 2015 and has expanded into a broader multi-corporate coalition — long band.
Staffing & skills
World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF, technical design/research), PT Tirta Investama / Danone-AQUA (PES buyer), 174 participating farmers organised in 12 farmer groups

Conditions for success

  • reverse group auction to select cost-effective participants
  • performance-based payments tied to specific, verifiable land-management practices (tree density, grass strips, rorak contour gutters)
  • peer-reviewed hydrological modelling underpinning payment design
  • broadened into a multi-corporate Indonesian Water Coalition for landscape-scale extension

Where it fits

Governance type
corporate PES buyer with research institution partnership
Scale
sub-watershed (106.6 hectares directly contracted; extending to the Brantas River basin)
Income level
lower-middle income (Indonesia)

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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