Mars Coral Reef
Restoration

With over 50% of the world’s coral cover having been lost in the past 30 years, implementing scalable coral restoration across the globe is essential to secure a future for these precious reefs. Through effective partnerships, a collaborative thematic research program and a standardized monitoring program tried and tested at our largest restoration site in Spermonde, Indonesia, restoration using the MARRS approach continues to demonstrate effective restoration at scale, whilst tackling essential questions aimed at enhancing the value, resilience and sustainability of coral restoration efforts. Our community driven impact reaches far beyond our local reefs and islands as we continue striving to establish a network of restoration training hubs across the globe. With over 60 partners across multiple industries and 72 established restoration sites across 12 countries, the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Program is creating a global movement to help restore our reefs.  

2024 was an extremely challenging year for coral reefs worldwide, with one of the most extensive coral bleaching events on record, severely impacting these vital ecosystems. Yet, amidst much devastation, certain reefs demonstrated remarkable resistance, offering hope and help in guiding our restoration efforts. We continued to focus on areas predicted to be less vulnerable to climate impacts, we collaborated on ground-breaking scientific studies, and firmly integrated thermal resilience strategies into our restoration practices. 

Globally, we reached significant milestones in 2024. For the first time, Reef Stars were deployed in the Red Sea, thanks to new partnerships with KAUST in Saudi Arabia. Our teams co-led the Maldives' "Big Build," where 15,000 corals were successfully outplanted in just five days. Across the globe, we completed over 20 new restoration projects, planting more than 80,000 corals, and in partnership with our dedicated researcher network from around the world we published 10 influential scientific papers, further advancing coral restoration science. 2024 saw another year of successful restoration training of local community and NGOs, science trips in collaboration with postgraduate and students across the globe and reef restoration conferences to exchange knowledge to tackle restoration in a changing climate. The Mars team and all of our many partners were invaluable to another successful year for coral restoration as we continue to spread hope for the future. 

To learn more, please enjoy fully exploring our 2024 impact report and join us in championing coral reefs in 2025.