Sustaining the Earth's Natural Resources
The world faces shrinking supplies of natural resources, most critically, healthy soil, access to fresh water, strong forests, a stable marine environment and clean air. The importance of these resources, along with scarcity due to over-use, climate, and pollution, has increased concerns about future availability.
Historically, society has focused on meeting human needs at the expense of the environment. As a leader in the global effort for cocoa sustainability, Mars is working proactively to help ensure the future availability of the cocoa supply while encouraging responsible production methods that help cocoa-producing communities thrive. Cocoa sustainability is making a positive difference for cocoa farmers around the world by helping alleviate poverty and its devastating impact on origin communities while also protecting tropical microclimates.
Mars has initiated and organized two conferences at the National Academies in Washington, DC - in 2004 and 2006 - highlighting the latest developments in a wide range of cocoa research areas, including genome mapping and selective breeding of cacao, research into beneficial natural organisms that may aid in protecting the cacao trees from disease, and scientific developments into the best ways to grow the crop that are both economically and socially beneficial for the farmer and environmentally beneficial for the areas in which it is grown.
Calling on science related to agriculture, clean water, marine life and more, Mars Sustainable Solutions seeks new and innovative ways to create sustainable agricultural and marine supply chains with the aim of restoring balance to the global environment.