Mars, Incorporated recently led one of the largest
single coral-restoration events in history, "The Big
Build"
— which planted 30,000 corals across 2,500 square meters, working towards the
Mars Sustainable Solutions (MSS) goal of restoring 1 million corals
worldwide by the end of 2023. The project brought together 44 participants from
17 conservation and science partners across government, NGO, business sectors
and local communities to demonstrate the importance of cross-sector partnerships
to achieve large-scale coral restoration.
Despite covering less than 1
percent of
the ocean floor, coral reefs provide critical ecosystems to more than 25 percent
of marine life, provide millions of jobs globally, protect coastlines from
storms and erosion, and offer a vital food source for local populations. And the
alarming reality is, climate change, overfishing, various types of pollution,
and rising sea temperatures and
acidification
have killed 14 percent of the world’s
coral
in the last decade; and 90
percent
are projected to disappear by 2050 without drastic action.
These vibrant ecosystems are also integral to the health and sustainability of
Mars’ seafood supply chain; so, the food giant has joined startups including
Archireef
and global companies such as
Ørsted
in innovating new techniques for rebuilding reefs that can thrive today and into
the future. In 2006, Mars launched the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Program —
which focused on the biodiversity of the Spermonde Archipelago off the coast
of Makassar, Sulawesi, Indonesia; at the center of the Coral
Triangle, the planet’s
most diverse and biologically complex marine ecosystem.
The Big Build, part of Mars’ Sheba cat food brand’s
Sheba Hope Reef initiative (nka Sheba Hope
Grows — “more coral today; more fish
tomorrow”) involves over 500 individuals actively restoring coral reefs, with a
target to restore over 185,000 square meters (roughly the size of 148 Olympic
swimming pools) by 2029. The project included a key initiative to train local
partners in the Mars Assisted Reef Restoration
System (MARRS) — which has proven successful in
restoring damaged reefs at a greater speed, larger scale and lower cost compared
to other approaches since 2011. With MARRS, experienced teams of four divers can reportedly
install 500 “reef stars” — hexagonal, sand-coated, steel structures with
attached coral fragments that are placed across barren coral rubble fields — in
just two days. The MARRS-trained teams provided advanced training to local
participants to enhance the global capacity to deliver coral restoration at
scale and to accelerate the pace of change that is possible — and needed.
Through this program, local teams are now equipped to implement the MARRS
technique to build new coral reefs across the Indonesian Archipelago.
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Today, the program extends its reach to more than 30 reefs across 10 countries
and five continents; and Mars and its global partners have successfully
installed more than 60,000 reef stars — planting 900,000 coral fragments.
"I am so proud to be part of The Big Build because there are so many people and
partners from outside Bontosua, from across Makassar and Indonesia, that come to
the Island and help the local Bontosuan community with coral restoration,”
said
Farhan,
a member of the Bontosuan Community Restoration Team. “We are now one of the
only Islands in the Pangkep region which has received this level of
Indonesia-wide recognition and engagement. The Big Build and coral reef
restoration is so important to our island as healthy coral reefs provide
critical coastal protection and support the livelihoods and food supply for the
island."
Sheba's coral-restoration efforts, highlighted by the establishment of Hope Reef
in Indonesia in 2021, have shown promising impacts with significant increases in
coral growth (from 2 percent to 70 percent), fish population (260 percent), and
fish species (64 percent). The ongoing restoration efforts span the world's
oceans, including recent expanded commitments in
Hawai'i
— where Sheba has partnered with Kuleana Coral
to restore coral reefs across 30 sites on O'ahu and Maui.
Frank Mars,
Board Member and Former Board Chair of Mars, said: "14 years ago, I asked a
small team of Mars Associates if it would be possible to rebuild a coral reef
ecosystem. And today, I'm proud to say that the answer is yes — both technically
and scientifically. As we build on two decades of dedication to coral
restoration through Mars Sustainable Solutions, it's thrilling to witness the
cross-sector, community-centered collaboration shown in 'The Big Build' —
demonstrating that it is possible to deliver resilient coral restoration at a
large scale. The world we want tomorrow is not going to materialize on its own.
The success of Sheba Hope Reef demonstrates that we can change the course of
coral reefs if we collectively change how we live, work and play together
today."
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Aug 8, 2023 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST