Originally published on LinkedIn by Poul Weihrauch, President Global Petcare at Mars
Today marks an important step in our journey at Mars Petcare to build a better and more sustainable world for people, pets, and the planet.
Our cat food brand SHEBA® has made a landmark commitment to restore 185,000 square meters of coral reefs in Indonesia by 2029. SHEBA®’s Hope Reef is part of the world's largest coral reef restoration program, demonstrating how marine ecosystems can be regenerated and restored. More than 285,000 coral fragments have already been planted and 19,000 reef stars have been installed, all using locally-sourced materials. Together, these spell out the word HOPE on the reef to demonstrate how hope grows. In just three years, coral cover has increased from 5% to 55% and the recovered reefs have seen an abundance of fish and biomass. Other species in the coral reef food web, such as sharks and turtles, are also returning.
Whilst the effort to solve coral loss requires global cooperation on a massive scale, our business has a role to play in supporting a future with coral reefs and fish. Over the past 13 years, Mars has invested more than $10m in research, builds, and community engagement to support coral reef restoration.
And you can help with the restoration efforts. For the first time ever 100% of the funds from a branded YouTube channel have been monetized for sustainability efforts. Please take two minutes to watch the video below to learn more about the inspiring work our SHEBA® team have been undertaking. With every view of this video, the advertising money generated is donated to coral reef restoration via our partner, The Nature Conservancy.