Illegal beach sand mining, near Tangier, Morocco. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care.
As of 2011-2012, when investigative filmmaker Denis Delestrac and team, were first collecting and unveiling sand mining datas and information from the professionals involved, the Sand business was estimated to be a $70 billion industry, worldwide…!—Denis Delestrac (©-2013)
“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 by: “Sand Wars” Multi Award-Winning Filmmaker Denis Delestrac (©-2013).
Excerpts;
Investigation launched into allegations that sand in Gran Canaria resort was sourced from Africa’s last colony, in breach of international law…
Read Full Article; Guardian UK (07-28-2017)
Western Sahara: Illegal beach sand mining in Laayoune; Plan Paix ONU(05-18-2016)
Allegations of illegal beach sand mining activities, from Spanish mining company, in Laayoune, Western Sahara…
Le Polisario dénonce le pillage du sable du Sahara occidental par une société espagnole, SPSRAD (05-17-2016)
La délégation du Front Polisario aux iles Canaries a dénoncé mardi l’importation de la société espagnole Anfi Tauro S.A. du sable des plages d’El Aaiun, capitale occupée du Sahara occidental pour la mise en place d’une plage artificielle dans la municipalité de Mogan…
Sand Is in Such High Demand, People Are Stealing Tons of It, By Dave Roos; HowStuffWorks (03-06-2017)
As strange as it may sound, sand is one of the world’s hottest commodities. The global construction boom has created an insatiable appetite for sand, the chief ingredient for making concrete. The problem is that sand isn’t as abundant as it used to be. And when high demand and high value meets scarcity, you open the doors to smuggling…
The Conservation Crisis No One Is Talking About, By John R. Platt, TakePart (09-21-2016)
Beaches around the world are disappearing. No, the cause isn’t sea-level rise, at least not this time. It’s a little-known but enormous industry called sand mining, which every year sucks up billions of tons of sand from beaches, ocean floors, and rivers to make everything from concrete to microchips to toothpaste…
The world is running out of sand; The New Yorker (05-29-2017)
It’s one of our most widely used natural resources, but it’s scarcer than you think…
The Economist explains: Why there is a shortage of sand; The Economist (04-24-2017)
It may be plentiful, but so is the demand for it…
Sand Thieves Are Eroding World’s Beaches For Castles Of Cash, by Martine Valo, Le Monde
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…
The Women Sand Thieves, Cape Verde; A Video (08-05-2010)
Every day, hundreds of women scrape, shovel, dig, sift and hoard beach sand by the tons.
The Sand Thieves: World’s Beaches Become Victims of Construction Boom. It’s not Just Cape Verde; Spiegel International (10-02-2014)
Sand is becoming so scarce that stealing it has become an attractive business model. With residential towers rising ever higher and development continuing apace in Asia and Africa, demand for the finite resource is insatiable…
Built on Sand: Singapore and the New State of Risk; Harvard Design Magazine, (09-07-2015)
Sand Piracy: More about Singapore Sand Issues; Dredging Today (05-08-2010)
Sand, Rarer Than One Thinks: A UNEP report (GEA-March 2014)
Despite the colossal quantities of sand and gravel being used, our increasing dependence on them and the significant impact that their extraction has on the environment, this issue has been mostly ignored by policy makers and remains largely unknown by the general public.
In March 2014 The United Nations released its first Report about sand mining. “Sand Wars” film documentary by Denis Delestrac – first broadcasted on the european Arte Channel, May 28th, 2013, where it became the highest rated documentary for 2013 – expressly inspired the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to publish this 2014-Global Environmental Alert.
Sand Wars, An Investigation Documentary, By Multi Award-Winning Filmmaker Denis Delestrac (©-2013)
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…? This investigative documentary takes us around the globe to unveil a new gold rush and a disturbing fact: the “Sand Wars” have begun…
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
