• Sand and gravel resources are the second-largest resource extracted and traded by volume after water.
• Improving governance of global sand resources means increasing the will to act at all levels of government and industry.
Image: FILE
Rising demand for sand has led to pollution, flooding, lowering of water aquifers and worsening drought, a new report says.
The report, Sand and sustainability: Finding new solutions for environmental governance of global sand resources, by UN Environment was released on Tuesday.
It shows the global demand for sand and gravel stands at 40 to 50 billion tonnes per year.
“We are spending our sand ‘budget’ faster than we can produce it responsibly. By improving the governance of global sand resources, we can better manage this critical resource sustainably and truly demonstrate that infrastructure and nature can go hand in hand,” says Joyce Msuya, acting executive director UN Environment.
Msuya says improving governance of global sand resources means increasing the will to act at all levels of government and industry.
"We need to reconcile relevant global policies and standards with local sand availability, development imperatives and standards and enforcement realities."
The report details how shifting consumption patterns, growing populations, increasing urbanization and infrastructure development have increased demand for sand three-fold over the last two decades.
Damming and extraction have reduced sediment delivery from rivers to many coastal areas, leading to reduced deposits in river deltas and accelerated beach erosion.
Sand and gravel resources are the second-largest resource extracted and traded by volume after water, according to the report.
With sand extraction regulated differently around the world, important regions for biodiversity and ecosystems are made more vulnerable by challenges in the local implementation of these regulations.
A growing trend of unsustainable and illegal extraction in marine, coastal and freshwater ecosystems makes this a sustainability challenge with a display of the various extraction impacts on terrestrial, riverine and marine environments.
Sand extraction is fast becoming a trans-boundary issue due to sand extraction bans, international sourcing of sand for land reclamation projects and impacts of uncontrolled sand extraction beyond national borders.
International trade in sand and gravel is growing due to high demand in regions without local resources and is forecast to rise 5.5 per cent a year with urbanization and infrastructure development trends.
"Unsustainable sand extraction does not only impact the environment but can also have far-reaching social implications,"the report warns.
Sand removal from beaches can jeopardize the development of the local tourism industry, while removing sand from rivers and mangrove forests leads to a decrease of crab populations.
There has been hue and cry from marine environmentalists, fishermen, hoteliers and the public over adverse effects of sand harvesting.
There are two simultaneous dredging activities at the port of Mombasa.
One is at Berth 22 – a Sh16 billion Mombasa Port Development Project II.
It started on February 17 and goes as deep as 15 metres below chart datum – a level so low that the tide will not fall below it.
KPA is creating more space for ships to berth.
The second dredging is at Kipevu Oil Terminal. The Sh40 billion terminal involves relocation. The dredging is 17 metres below chart datum.
The dredging is part of KPA’s expansion and strategic plan 2018-22 to guide its strategic direction.
The plan describes the means and strategies to be used to create world-class ports of choice.
KPA has been fighting claims its Sh56 billion dredging to expand its operations is choking and killing marine life.
Fishermen have accused the authority of removing sand from one part of the sea to the fishing sites.
The report further alerts that to meet demand in a world of 10 billion people without harming the environment, effective policy, planning, regulation and management will be needed.
Currently, sand extraction and use is defined by its local geography and governance context and does not have the same rules, practices and ethics worldwide.