Kenya’s sand wars
Communities are pitted against sand harvesters, powerful cartels and one another as demand for sand in Kenya grows.
Sand is so important, people kill for it; plus more facts and figures about one of California’s greatest resources
Summer seems incomplete without a day at the beach with your toes in the sand. We know you’re there to relax and not think about much, but here are a few facts about sand.
Concrete, or Beaches? World’s Sand Running Out As Global Construction Booms
A crucial component of concrete, sand is vital to the global construction industry.
He who controls the sand: the mining ‘mafias’ killing each other to build cities
In Kenya, as in most of the developing world, cities are growing at a frenzied pace. Creating buildings to house all the people and the roads to knit them together requires prodigious quantities of sand. As the price of sand goes up, the ‘mafias’ get more involved.
The Market For African Beach Sand: Who’s Buying, Selling And Mining It?
Sand mining on beaches and in riverbeds is a source of income for unemployed Africans, but it’s often an unregulated — or under-regulated — business. Environmental impact is a growing concern.
Sand mining decimates African beaches
What do houses, streets, telephones and microchips have in common? They all contain processed sand. Now African countries are raising the alarm because of their disappearing beaches…
Namibia: Environment Ministry to Punish Illegal Sand Miners
The environment ministry says it will have no mercy with people who are caught mining sand, and those who are found guilty of the offence face 25 years imprisonment or a fine of N$500,000, or both.
Namibia: Illegal Sand Miners to Face The Music
Ever-escalating illegal sand mining operations which have been largely ignored over the years could soon become a thing of the past as government has warned that offenders would face the consequences of their actions.
Liberia: Sand Mining Threatens Coastal Town
Harper, a town at West Africa’s most southern location, on Cape Palmas, is seriously under threat of being swallowed by violent waves from the Atlantic Ocean. The threat of erosion is blamed on persistent local sand mining.