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Suntory has launched a wetland restoration project with a local organisation in Mashiki Town, Kumamoto, Japan, aiming to improve biodiversity conservation and water replenishment.

Under the initiative, approximately 3,000 square metres of abandoned rice paddies adjacent to Suntory Natural Water Sanctuary Aso will be restored as wetlands using water from a nearby forest stream.

Suntory will install water management facilities and carry out site inspection, aiming to boost water replenishment by increasing the filtration into the ground. Meanwhile, the local organisation will oversee routine grass cutting and water level management.

The restored wetland will be monitored to evaluate the project’s effectiveness, designed to help create habitats where amphibians, aquatic insects and other native wildlife can thrive.

The Suntory Natural Water Sanctuary initiative currently spans 27 locations across 16 prefectures in Japan, covering more than 12,000 hectares of forest. It was established by the beverage producer in 2003, focusing on forest conservation and biodiversity work to advance water replenishment.

The group has also worked with local governments and farmers in Mashiki Town on a winter-flooded paddies initiative since 2010, aiming to restore ecosystems across the watershed.

Winter-flooded paddies is an agricultural practice in which fallow rice paddies are intentionally flooded during the winter season, expected to produce benefits such as groundwater recharge, improved soil fertility, enhanced biodiversity and weed suppression.

The new wetland restoration project builds on this foundation to connect forests, farmlands and wetlands through an integrated approach aimed at generating positive biodiversity impacts.

It aligns with Suntory’s Kumamoto Water Positive Action initiative, which began in 2025 in collaboration with local government, industry and academia. Through implementing ‘green infrastructure,’ this aims to promote ‘water positive,’ defined as offsetting or exceeding the negative impacts of land use change or water intake within a watershed by returning an equivalent or greater amount.