Cambodia’s banned sand trade with Singapore appears to be back – Mongabay

Unauthorized sand mining at the Tatai River in the Koh Kong Conservation Corridor,Cambodia 2012 (by Wikirictor CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia).

“Most countries don’t grow 10 km or 20 km [6-12 mi] every single decade, but Singapore does,” said William Jamieson, a postdoctoral research associate at Royal Holloway, University of London, who works on the global sand crisis. Between 1965 and 2025, the country’s total land area increased by 28%…

A Civilization Built on Sand – Le Figaro

Sand extraction in Villeneuve-sur-Verberie, France, c 1910 (Dury, editor, Public domain, via Wikimedia).

How ‘Yellow Gold’ Became a Resource Under Pressure…Sand is the second most consumed resource in the world after fresh water. Substance of our concrete civilization, its demand will intensify in the years to come. A situation that generates geopolitical tensions…

Looting of the sea: the great sand theft – ABC

Sand mining, Mizoram, India (by Karen Conniff CC BY-NC 2.0 courtesy of Water Alternatives Photos via Flickr).

It is the most demanded raw material after water. It is used to make concrete, chips, detergents, paints… and even artificial islands. The big cities are hungry for sand and to satisfy it, the world’s beaches are being plundered….