Sand Mining
After water, sand is the most widely used natural resource.
Sand is mined, smuggled, and stolen, and the impacts of this have far-reaching socio-political, economic and environmental implications, accelerating coastal erosion, and destroying ecosystems that are relied upon by coastal communities for their very existence.
August 16, 2022
Why beach sand mining is so dangerous – Times of India
Beach sand mining has been illegal since 1991 when the Coastal Regulation Zone Rules were first notified thirty years ago. Although illegal mining on beaches has continued nevertheless, the scale has been comparatively lesser than in rivers, where it has devasted entire swathes of land and water. Major Indian rivers like the Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari and Kaveri face existential threat…
Photo: Coastal Sand Mining Awareness Campaign poster created by Awaaz Foundation and BNHS for the UN Convention on Biodiversity in Hyderabad, India 2012 (uploaded by Sumaira Abdulali, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia).
More Articles . . .
Illegal sand mining eroding Morocco’s coastline and tourism
Tourism is essential to Morocco’s economy, and its beautiful beaches are a vital part of the attraction for visitors. In an ironic Catch-22 situation, however, meeting the demands of this industry is indirectly destroying the very coastline that tourists are coming to enjoy.
Sand: Monitoring and Management for a Sustainable Future
In partnership with the Global Sand Observatory Initiative, this event outlines the sand challenge, what actions are currently underway to address it, and what else needs to be done.
A sand shortage? The world is running out of a crucial — but under-appreciated — commodity
An insatiable global appetite for sand, one of the world’s most important but least appreciated commodities, is unlikely to let up anytime soon. The problem, however, is that this resource is slipping away.
Tracing the source of illicit sand–can it be done?
If you’ve visited the beach recently, you might think sand is ubiquitous. But in construction uses, the perfect sand and gravel is not always an easy resource to come by.
Philippines: Artificial white sandy beach could spell eco disaster
An artificial beach strip in Manila Bay has environmentalists up in arms. Scientists warn its dolomite sand could harm people’s health and marine wildlife.
World’s tallest prefab skyscrapers will rise in Singapore — but they’re being built in Malaysia
A pair of skyscrapers are set to become the tallest prefabricated buildings in the world.
Deep-sea misconceptions cause underestimation of seabed-mining impacts
A new publication on the impacts of deep-seabed mining by 13 prominent deep-sea biologists, led by University of Hawai’i at M?noa oceanography professor Craig Smith, seeks to dispel scientific misconceptions that have led to miscalculations of the likely effects of commercial operations to extract minerals from the seabed.
Global warming and illegal land reclamation add to severe floods in China
China has perennial flooding in summer but a combination of climate reasons and human behavior over decades of land reclamation and dam-building on nearby rivers, have contributed to a longer-than-usual duration and incessant rainfall in some regions.
Audubon files lawsuit to protect coastal areas from sand mining
A lawsuit was filed filed against the Trump administration to defend the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) against Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt’s unlawful ‘Excavation Rule,’ which allows taxpayer money to be used for dredging sand from protected coastal areas…