Encounter with an illegal sand miner, Mumbai.
“Sand is the second most consumed natural resource, after water. The construction-building industry is by far the largest consumer of this finite resource. The traditional building of one average-sized house requires 200 tons of sand; a hospital requires 3,000 tons of sand; each kilometer of highway built requires 30,000 tons of sand… A nuclear plant, a staggering 12 million tons of sand…” Captions and Photograph by “Sand Wars” Award-Winning Filmmaker: © Denis Delestrac (2013).
Excerpts;
Sand isn’t just for beaches. The tiny grains show up in many products of the industrialized world: in the glass and concrete that build cities, in detergents and cosmetics that people use daily, and in the silicon chips and solar panels of advanced technology. But sand comes from rocks that take thousands of years to erode into fine particles, and humans are using it faster than they should…
Read Full Article, The Smithsonian
Sand Wars, An Investigation Documentary, By Award-Winning Filmmaker Denis Delestrac (2013)
Sand: Most of us think of it as a complimentary ingredient of any beach vacation. Yet those seemingly insignificant grains of silica surround our daily lives.
Is sand an infinite resource? Can the existing supply satisfy a gigantic demand fueled by construction booms? What are the consequences of intensive beach sand mining for the environment and the neighboring populations?
Based on encounters with sand smugglers, barefoot millionaires, corrupt politicians, unscrupulous real estate developers and environmentalists, this investigation takes us around the globe to unveil a new gold rush and a disturbing fact: the “SAND WARS” have begun…
Sand Wars film premiered in Paris, in its french version: “Le Sable: enquête sur une disparition,” and was broadcasted on the european Arte Channel, May 28th, 2013, where it became the highest rated documentary for 2013…
Sand Thieves Are Eroding World’s Beaches For Castles Of Cash, by Martine Valo, Le Monde (09-2013)
The pillaging of sand is a growing practice in the world. This is because it represents 80% of the composition of concrete that it is the object of such greed…
Sand mining: The Greatest Threat To The Coastline of Ghana, Graphic Online (04-24-2014)
The Deadly Global War for Sand, WIRED Magazine (03-26-2015)
Let’s Talk About Sand: Denis Delestrac At TEDxBarcelona (12-2013)
A UN Report On Sand Mining: “Sand, Rarer Than One Thinks;” UNEP, GEA-March-2014
LEARN MORE ABOUT BEACH SAND MINING
BE THE CHANGE:
PETITION: Take Action To End Global Beach Sand Mining, Coastal Care
Illegal beach sand mining, near Tangier, Morocco. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care.
