Coral Reef Restoration in Mozambique

For two decades, the Mars Sustainable Solutions team has been developing, testing, and scaling the Mars Assisted Reef Restoration System (MARRS) as part of the Building Coral program.  Our partners at SHEBA® have been an integral part of this journey through the SHEBA Hope Grows™ programme. 

This July, we were excited to establish our first restoration site in Mozambique, in partnership with the SHEBA Hope Grows Program™ and Wild Impact.  

The Bazaruto Archipelago National Park off the coast of Mozambique is one of the most biodiverse marine environments in the entire Western Indian Ocean. Dugongs, manta rays, sea turtles, and thousands of reef fish species call it home. For the coastal communities who have lived alongside these waters for generations, the reefs are not just beautiful - they are a source of food, livelihoods, and cultural identity. 

But in 2024, a severe bleaching event caused widespread coral mortality across the park, including at Santa Carolina Island - one of its most significant reef sites. What was once a structurally complex, thriving reef had, in many areas, shifted toward algae-dominated rubble. The question was no longer whether the reef was under threat – it was whether restoration could turn the tide on what had been lost. 

Two organisations have been essential to making this project possible. 

African Parks is one of Africa's most respected conservation organisations, managing 22 national parks and protected areas across the continent. Their presence in the Bazaruto Archipelago provides the institutional weight, enforcement capacity, and long-term strategic commitment that turns a pilot project into the foundation of something lasting. This is a partnership that matters enormously for what becomes possible in this region. 

Wild Impact is a community NGO with deep roots on Benguerra Island and a strong track record in marine conservation. Their involvement ensures that everything we do here is genuinely community-led — built with local people, not just for them. 

This July, our Mars Sustainable Solutions trainers travelled to Santa Carolina Island to deliver hands-on training and set up the project on the ground. Together, they worked with 11 community members from Wild Impact and trained a local ranger who will now lead the programme and MARRS restoration independently. 

The team installed the first 101 Reef Stars at the Santa Carolina site; each seeded with coral fragments tied by hand by community members. Those 101 Reef Stars are the beginning. Over the coming months, Wild Impact will install a further 399, bringing the pilot phase to 500 Reef Stars in total - enough to generate real, meaningful scientific data on coral recovery in this unique environment. 

Training the Wild Impact team is one of the project's most important outcomes. By equipping local partners with the tools and knowledge laid out in the Building Coral program and extending training to on-the-ground team, the community is able to own the restoration of their own reef.  

“It was very interesting to be part of this coral reef restoration project because it was the first time I participated in a coral restoration initiative. Following the construction of the Reef Stars and then seeing them installed in the sea showed me that conservation goes beyond monitoring; we can also intervene directly to help with the recovery of ecosystems. 

For African Parks, this project is important because coral reefs are the foundation of much of the marine biodiversity in the Bazaruto Archipelago and they support activities such as fishing and tourism. Restoring these habitats means contributing and increasing their capacity to recover from the impacts of climate change.  

I hope that over time we will be able to observe the growth of the transplanted corals and that this experience will help us improve future restoration actions. I also hope that the results will demonstrate that this type of intervention can be an important tool to support reef conservation in the Park.” - Keila Geraldo Paunde, African Parks