Getting Granular: Uncovering the Environmental and Social Maladies of Sand Mining
Living in the Pacific Northwest, It’s hard to imagine a shortage of sand when you’re constantly tracking it into the house and then finding it in all of your belongings. Sand gets granular about boundaries; it would rather seep in everywhere. Finally, you think you’re in the clear. You’re on the couch and you open your book, and then a stream of old beach falls onto your lap. And your cat, who is now pissed, which was the last thing you needed. It turns out the war on sand is much cruder than this experience we face here on the west coast.
Math experts estimate that there are between 2.5-10 sextillion grains of sand on the planet. Sand is in more places than we could have ever imagined, beyond beaches, we find sand in every house, skyscraper, glass building and product, bridge, airport, sidewalks, electronics, toothpaste, powdered food and even in our wine..and that which holds our wine. Up to 50 billion tonnes of sand and gravel are mined each year to meet soaring demand from construction and land reclamation – making this form of mining the most exploitive in the world, as it’s responsible for 85 percent of all mineral extraction. So, what are the issues of sand mining?
Sand mining is a cause for river and coastal erosion, and in many places, this has led to the retreat of beaches and shrinking of river banks - which further impacts a coastline’s ability to buffer against storms. If this wasn’t enough, the physical impact on these systems alters groundwater reserves and water quality, which leads to the loss of fertile land and increases flooding. Regarding the latter consequence, according to World Atlas, “Beaches, dunes, and sandbanks act as barriers to flooding. When sand mining removes such barriers, areas near the sea or river become more prone to flooding. As a result, beachside communities in areas subjected to indiscriminate sand mining are thus more vulnerable to the forces of nature.” It’s often communities that are already vulnerable to climate change and other environmental threats that are further impacted by sand mining.
Like any extractive activity, wildlife and their habitats are also compromised from sand mining. This encompasses the loss of nesting sites for sea turtles, and the near threat of extinction of gharials, a crocodile found in India, who build their nests on river banks. Additionally, when seabeds are dredged, this destroys the habitat present as well as harms or kills benthic creatures like crabs and starfish. In addition, according to the World Wildlife Fund, sand mining can result in a reduction in diversity and abundance of fish in mined areas.
With the fossil fuels used to extract and transport the sand, this industry inevitably contributes to climate change. Socially, sand mining impacts local livelihoods, farmers, fishers, and those—typically women—fetching water for households. Surfrider Pacific Rim first became aware of this when screening the film, Lost Worlds, at the 2019 Surfrider Short Film Festival. This documentary follows a young woman, Phalla Vy, in her home of Koh Sralau. In this small Cambodian island, sand has been dredged beyond disaster beneath mangrove forests - which are essential for fishing and crabbing, which colours this community’s way of life. The foundation of communities are being literally pulled away by machinery, rendering homelands unrecognizable. Environmental Justice Atlas breaks down the socio-economical impacts of sand mining on local people further, using Kerala in India as a case study, which includes loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures, displacement, loss of livelihood, land dispossession, loss of landscape/sense of place. With 70% of countries reportedly experiencing illegal extraction of river and coastal sand, these adverse effects are becoming all too common.
As Cosmos Science states, “The damage caused by uncontrolled demand..is significantly exacerbated by the fact that in most parts of the world sand is considered a ‘common resource’ – easy to reach and prohibitively expensive to regulate.” Given the nuance of this material management, what solutions can be implemented to address this growing sand storm?
World Wildlife Fund seems to have the most salient recommendations around solving the issues caused by sand mining: “Europe has shown that developed economies can continue to prosper without resorting to river sand. Its supplies now come from crushed quarry rocks, recycled concrete, and marine sand. The question now is what can be done to reduce the demand for sand in rapidly developing countries. As the review concludes, it will require systemic change." This includes the following points:
Increase public awareness of the growing demand and finite supply of sand. Public awareness and acceptance will be required for any long term shift away from the present market system whereby sand underpins all development, yet is the cheapest of commodities;
Conduct research into economic incentives or certification schemes that could drive a reduction in the extraction of sand from rivers;
Conduct more scientific research into sand mining in rivers, including short-term ‘rapid’ assessments and longer-term investigations to understand changes over the time-scales at which rivers and ecosystems respond to change. Rivers where sensitive or endangered species reside, and their habitat needs are known would provide good initial targets for research. Evidence of where economically valuable species are being lost would provide information on economic trade-offs.
The severe lack of information regarding rivers in developing countries must rapidly be addressed.
the UNEP Global Environment Alert Service suggests optimizing the use of existing buildings and infrastructure, as well as using recycled concrete rubble and quarry dust instead of using raw sand.
Breaking the reliance on concrete as the go-to material for building houses, by increasing the tax on aggregate extraction, training architects and engineers, and looking to alternative materials such as wood and straw, would also reduce our demand for sand.
Beyond these solutions, we need governments and more environmental groups to address the environmental justice issues arising out of sand mining, as illuminated by the destruction of local economies and environmental services in Cambodia, India, and many other developing nations. This includes stronger regulations, enforcement, and monitoring around this form of extraction, protections for vulnerable communities, including communities at risk in policymaking, compensation for affected communities, and restoring communities that have been degraded by sand mining.
No matter where we live, we benefit from sand and all other materials that come from the earth that we use and depend on every day. As we work to address the climate crisis and environmental racism, we need to establish an equitable and circular economy for all materials, which requires stronger government regulations, private sector participation, and people getting loud about the changes needed. Let your MP know that you want all generations to experience sublime beaches - keeping the global collection of beaches protected from climate change and sand mining.