Resumen
The damage to Brantas River Basin (Watershed) has been increasingly critical due to forest encroachment and land use ignoring the rules of soil and water conser- vation. This study aims to examine the problems in the management of upper Brantas Watershed in Batu City, Indonesia. The method used in this research was descriptive-qualitative and the data were collected using participative observa- tion in the field, in-depth interviews with the community of Brantas Watershed- Caring Farmer Group (Komunitas Petani Penyelamat Daerah Aliran Sungai Brantas- KPPDAS), discussion with experts, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). This paper succeeded in extracting information about the fundamental problems causing damage to Brantas Watershed in Batu City. Those fundamental problems con- sisted of pragmatic behavior and ways of thinking of land use in the upper wa- tershed of Brantas, government policies that were not aligned to the upstream conservation of Brantas Watershed, the low public awareness to actively partici- pate in the upstream conservation of Brantas Watershed. Therefore, the man- agement of upper Brantas Watershed needs to strengthen the cooperation (part- nership) among stakeholders to savejointly the upstream of Brantas River Basin or Watershed.