Quick sand, dirty Money; South Africa

Mining has already cut coastal sand supply by as much as 70 percent in the municipality of Ethekwini, which includes Durban. Each year, miners dig up more than 400,000 cubic meters of sand from Durban’s rivers, enough to fill 160 Olympic swimming pools. This sand would normally be deposited on beaches and help offset coastal erosion. At current mining rates, Durban’s beaches are predicted to contract, on average, by more than a meter each year.

Sand mining ravages African beaches

Sand is a natural resource that is more and more exploited. Worldwide, beaches are mined for sand. As many other countries in the world, African States have legislated to better protect their coastal environment, but this did not put an end to illegal beach sand mining and its detrimental effects on the ecosystems.

Kenya’s sand wars

Communities are pitted against sand harvesters, powerful cartels and one another as demand for sand in Kenya grows.

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…