Right now, sand is disappearing from the world. Global demand for sand is rising, and vast quantities are consumed every year. As a result, a scramble for sand can be seen in many parts of the world.

Excluding water, sand is the resource humans consume more than any other. According to a United Nations report, more than 40 billion tons of sand are consumed annually worldwide. This is about 2 times the amount of sediment carried by the world’s rivers in a year, meaning we are consuming sand faster than nature can supply it. Sand is indispensable for making concrete, asphalt, glass, and silicon, and our surroundings are full of things made from it—roads, buildings, window glass, and more. It is no exaggeration to say our civilization is built on sand. Although sand seems ubiquitous and inexhaustible on Earth, it is finite, just like other resources such as coal and oil. Yet its very abundance means the use of sand resources is often overlooked. In recent years, sand has been rapidly disappearing around the world.

The main reason sand is vanishing is urbanization occurring worldwide. In 1950, the urban population accounted for less than 30% of the world’s population, but it has surged since then, and now more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. Supporting this growing urban population requires commensurate urban development, and vast amounts of sand are used for housing and urban infrastructure. Urbanization is particularly pronounced in developing countries, where most megacities—those with populations of over 10,000,000—are located. By 2050, the world’s urban population is projected to increase by 2.5 billion people, and about 90% of that increase will be concentrated in Asia and Africa. Urban populations will grow particularly rapidly in India, China, and Nigeria. As urbanization continues, ever greater quantities of sand will be consumed.

Let’s look at a few examples of how sand resources are actually being used. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is famous for artificial island groups such as the Palm Islands and The World, and for supertall buildings like the Burj Khalifa, but to reclaim the sea, expand its coastline, and construct high-rises, it imports vast quantities of sand not only from its own coasts but also from African countries and Australia. By now, it has almost exhausted the sand along its own shores.

Dubai: Burj Khalifa (center-left, 828 m, 2008) Photo: Aheilner ［CC-BY-SA-3.0-migrated］

Yet most of the United Arab Emirates is desert, and one could obtain huge quantities of sand simply by going to the desert, without importing it. Why import sand from overseas instead of using the country’s own desert sand? In fact, desert sand is too rounded by wind weathering to be suitable for land reclamation or concrete. What is needed for reclamation and construction is sand from riverbeds and coastlines. Therefore, when undertaking large-scale reclamation or construction projects, domestic supplies of suitable sand are insufficient, and sand must be imported from other countries.

In rapidly developing Singapore, the population tripled from 1960 to 2010, and the country has expanded its territory to support the growing population. Singapore has imported sand from neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia to reclaim the sea, and over the past about 40 years it has expanded its territory by more than 20% (130 km²). On the other hand, Indonesia is said to have lost 24 islands as a result of exporting large amounts of sand to Singapore. Neighboring countries have banned sand exports to Singapore, but the illegal sand trade has not stopped.

Land reclamation (Hong Kong, 2015) Photo: Leon Brocard［CC-BY-2.0］

Across African countries, beaches are now facing the risk of disappearance due to sand mining. In Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous archipelago that is part of Tanzania, excessive sand has been used for construction projects, and sandy beaches are shrinking. Morocco hopes to use its beautiful beaches to promote the tourism industry, but, ironically, in order to build tourism infrastructure such as hotels and roads, beaches are being mined for sand, which is destroying the very beaches that are essential to tourism. It is also said that half of the sand used is illegally mined.

Sand mining causes major environmental damage. Excavating sand changes landforms and alters water levels in rivers and lakes. Lake Poyang, China’s largest freshwater lake, is the world’s leading source of mined sand, and as a result the lake’s water level has reached a historic low. Sand mining can also dry up rivers and weaken the foundations of bridges and roads, threatening livelihoods. Furthermore, mining sand from riverbeds reduces the amount of sediment carried from rivers to shores, making beaches more prone to erosion. Mining sand from riverbeds and beaches also destroys the habitats of the organisms that live there and can lead to water pollution. This in turn damages ecosystems and diminishes biodiversity. And the damage is not limited to direct environmental impacts: transporting mined sand over long distances releases large amounts of greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming.

Sand extraction (India: Mumbai, 2012) Photo: Sumaira Abdulali［CC-BY-SA-3.0］

Because unlimited sand mining would cause great harm and losses, governments regulate how and where sand can be mined and grant permits to operators. In reality, however, many mine without permits, and even those with permits often extract far more than the approved amounts. One reason illegal mining is rampant is that it is difficult to police, but in some cases government officials such as police, bureaucrats, and politicians accept bribes from miners, overlook illegal mining, and share in the profits. Today, sand resources are giving rise to black markets around the world, and many people are being injured and killed over sand. There, people known as “sand mafias” wield influence and cause a range of problems.

Makueni County in Kenya is a poor rural region, and in the past two years at least nine people have been killed and dozens injured. These include police officers and government employees, and anyone who tries to stop illegal sand extraction becomes a target for attacks. Because sand mining has had serious impacts on the environment and people’s lives in Makueni, it is banned in many areas. Years of conflict have persisted between miners and the government and local residents, but in practice bribery occurs and illegal mining is rampant.

India is one of the countries where the sand mafia problem is most serious, and fierce battles are being waged over sand. Behind this lies a remarkable construction boom in recent years: the rapidly growing construction industry is estimated to employ more than 35 million people and be worth over $126 billion annually. Continued growth in India requires investment in infrastructure, and with active government investment, the construction boom is likely to gain even more momentum. Illegal sand mining is said to be the hidden support propping up this growth, with the sand mafia playing a role. The increasingly active sand mafia is expanding the black market, which is estimated to generate about US$17 million per month. They mine illegally to an extent that causes devastating damage to riverbanks and coastlines, and conflicts over sand are arising as a result.

Construction site (India: Kolkata, 2015) Photo: Biswarup Ganguly［CC-BY-3.0］

Reports indicate that conflicts within the sand mafia and between the sand mafia and opposing forces have killed hundreds of people, including police officers, government employees, and civilians. The government is, of course, aware of the issue of illegal sand mining, but stopping it is difficult. An official in charge of mining says, “We conduct raids against illegal miners, but we are attacked and shot at, so it is extremely difficult.” When local people try to stop illegal mining, they are routinely threatened or killed by miners. There was even a case in which a journalist who reported on illegal mining was burned alive in retaliation. Urban populations will continue to grow, and high demand for sand will persist. The sand mafia will likely become an even more serious problem.

Loading illegally mined sand (India, 2012) Photo: Sumaira Abdulali［CC-BY-SA-3.0］

As we have seen, problems surrounding sand are occurring all over the world. Sand is used in large quantities in developed countries too; it is by no means only a problem for developing countries. The problem is that while the amount of sand that can be supplied is limited, demand for sand is unlimited. If effective measures to prevent excessive sand mining are not implemented and mining continues at the current pace, environmental destruction will intensify and conflicts over sand will continue, causing harm to many more people. For now, there appears to be no readily available, abundant resource that can sufficiently substitute for sand, so the world has little choice but to rely on it. The key is to prevent excessive extraction, stop environmental destruction and conflict over sand, and maintain a sustainable state.

One approach is to reuse debris from demolished buildings. This effort is beginning to be adopted in the United States and Canada, but the process of separating materials that can be reused from those that cannot is complex, making this method still challenging to adopt. Nevertheless, initiatives like this lead to the sustainable use of sand resources and will greatly contribute to solving the problems surrounding sand.

Writer: Taihei Toda
Graphics: Taihei Toda