Infiltration-Friendly Land Uses for Climate Resilience on Volcanic Slopes in the Rejoso Watershed, East Java, Indonesia

Forest conversion to agriculture or agroforestry may increase risks of loss of hydrologic functions in an era of climate change. Infiltration during high-intensity rainfall is important for avoiding erosion and feeding aquifers but depends on land use practices that maintain soil macroporosity. In the forest-to-open-field-agriculture continuum it is not clear where thresholds to functionality (“degradation”) are crossed. Our assessment of “infiltration-friendly” land uses in the Rejoso watershed on the slopes of the Bromo volcano in East Java (Indonesia) focused on two zones, upstream (above 800 m a.s.l.) and midstream (400–800 m a.s.l.) of the Rejoso river and feeding aquifers that support lowland rice areas as well as drinking water supplies to nearby cities.