Danone-AQUA Rejoso Kita Watershed PES (Indonesia)

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.

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. A reverse group auction identified 174 farmers from 12 farmer groups in seven villages across Tosari and Pasrepan sub-districts, managing 106.6 ha 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.

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. 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.

Read the full analysis: https://www.gwp.org/en/waterchangemakers/change-stories/562720/