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Coral Reef
Restoration

Coral Reef
Restoration

Section 6

Global Scale

We are proud to work with a wide range of organisations. Together, we push the limits of our scientific understanding and implement community-based restoration initiatives worldwide.

Our projects and partners around the globe

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Large scale restoration

The MARRS method is unique in its scalability. Installing hundreds of Reef Stars and thousands of coral fragments per day, we can rapidly rebuild large areas of reef. This method has been celebrated by independent scientists as exemplary practice in large-scale marine restoration.

Rebuilding reefs on this scale is also likely to reseed the recovery of other degraded reefs in the region. Our reefs can act as ‘hubs’ of regional recovery, because coral spawn and young fish are carried on ocean currents to other areas nearby. In this way, the ‘ecological footprint’ of our restored reefs is likely to be larger than the ‘physical footprint’ of the restoration builds that we carry out.

The Big Build: The largest single coral reef restoration event in history.

Scaling up through training

Having spent years developing the MARRS method in central Indonesia, we are now proud to train marine park managers, conservation practitioners, tourism operators and NGOs around the world. By sharing our methods with others, through our 'hub and spoke' model, we can establish a worldwide network of competent reef builders, benefitting far more reefs than those we can restore on our own. Our training programmes include three stages:

Introductory training

An overview of our approach to reef restoration, including a visit to one of our established MARRS sites. This usually involves large groups of 30–40 people over three days.

Competency training

Hands on, intensive training in MARRS restoration. Partners are fully equipped to restore their own reefs using the MARRS method. We usually do this with small focus groups of around six people over five days.

Train to train others

Empowering experienced practitioners to train others in MARRS. This is usually done with partners who have led multiple projects and are confident in every part of our restoration process.

We train restoration practitioners around the world, and MARRS is used in all of the world’s tropical oceans. If you are an established, community-orientated conservation programme and would like to learn to restore reefs using our MARRS method, please do get in touch via the contact page. We see the best results when we work together, so we’d love to hear from you.

Thanks to training from Mars, we are now restoring reefs using MARRS here in Mexico. Combining Reef Stars with our own restoration techniques is creating an inspiring new solution for coral reefs in the Mexican Caribbean.

Gaby Nava & Miguel Garcia
Oceanus, A.C.

Mars’ training left me feeling confident that I could apply this technology in other areas, and I have now completed several successful builds in Australia.

Eric Fisher
Great Barrier Reef Biology

Global Collaboration

Through working with partners in science, business and government around the world, we can fast-track restoration success around the planet. We collaborate with conservation organisations and critical industries to open new opportunities for funding, research and restoration action in key locations around the globe. You can read more about our global partnerships on the people and partnerships page.

Working with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to restore reefs around Green Island, Australia

World leading inspiration

Our restoration success is a story with real power to motivate action on a global scale. When we share our story, we inspire people from primary school children to prime ministers – they go away believing that ecological restoration is possible not just for coral reefs, but for all of the world’s critical ecosystems. Our reef restoration and our wider Sustainable in a Generation plan help to promote a global message of hope. Together, we can build a planet where people and nature thrive.

Mars representatives engaging with students at the 2019 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings

The world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today.

Mars Incorporated Mission Statement