The Unsustainable Harvest of Coastal Sands – Science

Although coasts form a crucial part of the natural wealth of the planet, their conservation is increasingly jeopardized owing to the growing human footprint. With 50% of the world’s population living within 150 km of a coastline, increasing urbanization and population pressures are threatening these fragile ecosystems…
Alarming’ scale of marine sand dredging laid bare by new data platform – the Guardian

One million lorries of sand a day are being extracted from the world’s oceans, posing a “significant” threat to marine life and coastal communities facing rising sea levels and storms, according to the first-ever global data platform to monitor the industry….
6 billion tonnes of sand taken annually from oceans, causing irreparable damage to benthic life – Down to Earth

Some six billion tonnes of sand is being extracted annually from the floor of the world’s oceans, causing irreparable damage to benthic life, according to a new global data platform on sand and other sediment extraction in the marine environment.
The new data platform, Marine Sand Watch, has been developed by GRID-Geneva, a Centre for Analytics within the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). It is available at: https://unepgrid.ch/en/marinesandwatch…
Sand mining is a huge problem, a new global map shows – the Verge

People are dredging an alarming amount of sand from the seafloor, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned today. An average of 6 billion tons of sand are taken from marine environments every year, according to a new global data platform from UNEP….
Opposition grows to Indonesia’s resumption of sea sand exports – Mongabay

Marine and fisheries activists in Indonesia are ramping up their calls for the revocation of a new government regulation allowing the export of sea sand, saying the policy will benefit foreign interests more than local fishers and marine ecosystems…
Indonesian fishermen, activists fear loss of marine life, islands as sea-sand exports resume – South China Morning Post

The last time dredging vessels came to Rupat Island, the Indonesian island’s coast was pillaged for its sea sand, says fisherman Eriyanto, who saw his income shrivel as the seabed – and the ecosystem it shelters – was scooped up for sale.
Now, the 36-year-old from Suka Damai village fears worse is yet to come, after President Joko Widodo last month lifted a 20-year-old ban on sea-sand exports….
Ocean Sand: Putting Sand on the Ocean Sustainability Agenda – ORRAA Report

Sand is a fundamental feature of modern society…
Globally, the consumption of aggregates has increased three-fold over the last two decades, reaching an estimated 40-50 billion tons per year – an extraction far quicker than the rate at which they can naturally be replenished…
As sand miners prosper in Uganda, a vital lake basin suffers – AP News

The excavator grunts in the heart of the wetland, baring its teeth. There are trucks waiting to be loaded with sand, and more almost certainly on the way.
This is how it is here daily in Lwera — a central Ugandan region on the fringes of Lake Victoria: a near-constant demand for sand that’s exerting pressure on a wetland that’s home to locals and animals and feeds into Africa’s largest freshwater lake…
In Vietnam, the mighty Mekong’s banks are crumbling as illegal sand miners run riot – South China Morning Post

When the retaining wall of Vietnamese fish farmer Ho Thi Bich Tuyen’s catfish pond collapsed into the Hau River several years ago, she knew who was to blame: illegal sand miners.
“They took the sand, and the riverbed just kept going lower and lower,” she said. “There were so many of them. The sand miners came close to the riverbank. So I told the local ward officials to shoo them away, but at night they came back again…”