Abstract Summary
In 2011, Mars, Inc. set-up a Coral Reef Restoration Program in the Spermonde Archipelago off the coast of Makassar, Sulawesi. With local communities and scientists we developed a simple, effective and scalable way to rebuild a coral reef – the Mars Assisted Reef Restoration System (MARRS). We rebuild the reef from the bottom-up using uniquely shaped, coated steel structures – called ‘spiders’ – with live coral fragments tied to them. Spiders are connected under water to form a large web on the degraded reef surface and secured to the ocean floor. We believe the real success of the MARRS approach lies in the ability to ‘jump-start’ a degraded reef back to life by providing it with the right platform (spiders) and conditions to speed up its natural recovery to a point where no further human intervention would be required. We have built over 3 hectares of reef, on 3 islands around Sulawesi and Bali, installing in excess of 15,000 spiders with 250,000 coral fragments, which we think makes this the largest coral reef restoration program in the world. Through building reefs we have been able to practice and refine the technique, build capacity and ownership with local communities in developing specialist businesses and skills – such as the production of spiders and tying on coral. Finally we have built capacity by developing an experienced team who are able to ‘build’ a new reef structure consisting of 500 spiders (7,500 coral fragments) in 2 days. We have observed that this approach enables the reef to recover fast, with new coral coverage exceeding 50% in just 2 years. Within 18 months the spiders become incorporated into the reef structure. The spider mosaic provides structural complexity for reef dependent fish, which enable coral fragments to thrive. MARRS is adaptable to different environments and allows deployment of different coral species at scale and speed. It is complementary to existing methods to select, grow and plant out coral. Building on the success in Indonesia, we are now forming partnerships to show MARRS works in different conditions and locations around the world.
