Member Type Private Industry, Company, or Foundation

Mars

Mars business and the many communities they source their raw materials from depend greatly on the ocean and all its reefs provide – be it food, income or coastal protection. We know 27% of the world’s tropical reefs have been lost, and scientists predict, if we do nothing, a further 32% will be lost by 2050. The past 25 years, Mars has been operating in Indonesia, Mars has worked closely with local communities who grow the materials relied on – such as cocoa, coconut and spices – and use in the confectionery and food brands around the world. This has given Mars a unique insight into the challenges these communities face in sustaining their livelihoods. Being a private company Mars has permission to think and act long-term, and embrace both failure and success through continued innovation. Helping coral reefs is the right thing to do in order to ensure the planet, people and communities which rely on them are healthy and thriving.

Related websites:

Mars

Mars Coral Reef Restoration

Taking Responsibility to Rebuild Coral Reefs

Coral Reef video

Background Information

Building on Mars’s long-term business presence in Indonesia, the Coral Reef Restoration Program was set-up in 2006 in the Spermonde Archipelago off the coast of Makassar, Sulawesi. Together with local island communities and marine scientists from around the world, Mars has developed and refined a simple, effective and scalable way to rebuild a coral reef – the Mars Assisted Reef Restoration System (MARRS). The system is based on rebuilding the reef from the bottom-up using uniquely shaped and coated steel structures – called ‘Reef Stars’ – with live coral fragments tied to them. Individual Reef Stars are connected together underwater to form a large web on the surface of the degraded reef and secured to the ocean floor. The Coral Reef Restoration Program is deliberately forward-looking, anticipating the challenges that lie ahead. It plays a critical role in accelerating Mars’s efforts to ensure that today’s generation, and tomorrows, will thrive and the planet will too – which lies at the heart of the Sustainable in a Generation Plan. Most importantly it brings the Mars purpose – the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today – to life.

Ramsar Sites

Sites with Coral Reefs: 1

Parque Nacional Arrecifes de Xcalak

Man and the Biosphere (MAB)

Sites with Coral Reefs: 3

Wakato bi Biosphere Reserve (in partnership with Universitas Hasanuddin)
Taka Bonerate-Kepulauan Selayar Biosphere Reserve (in partnership with the Ministry for Environment and Forestry)
Togean Tojo Una-Una Biosphere Reserve (in partnership with the Ministry for Environment and Forestry)