Sand mining and trade - global and regional
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
About 12,200,000 results (December 2017)
Source/publisher:
www via Google
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-15
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Websites/Multiple Documents
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English
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"Hello, Thank you for visiting SandStories.Org!
My name is Kiran Pereira and I created this website with some help from my wonderful family and friends. This project is currently a one-woman labour of love, but my vision is for it to grow into a strong social enterprise that builds bridges between Research, Policy, and Industry. A social enterprise that works to educate society about the urgent need to re-evaluate our relationship with resources in general and sand in particular.
I?ve experienced life in an emerging economy as well as a developed one. I grew up in India, but I now live in London, UK. So my world view has been influenced quite a bit by the contrasts and the similarities between both worlds. As for this particular topic, it was the subject of my dissertation at King?s College, London where I did a Masters course in Environment and Development in 2010 - 11. Ever since, I have been researching various aspects of it and I find that we have unwittingly built ourselves a society that is highly dependent on the consumption of sand in order to maintain a high standard of living. As a result, we now also face the potential paradox of a ?scarce? symbol of abundance. There is a great need to break down information barriers and initiate cross-disciplinary cooperation so that we can find solutions. I hope this website can inspire readers to slow down and take a closer look at the most overused and undervalued resource on Earth, after water. The more I learn, the more I realise how little I know. It?s a humbling, yet fascinating journey. Join me in this quest to discover more about how sand is deeply entrenched in our lives.
If you?re interested, you can follow some of my earlier work on the subject (in English) here, here, here and (in German) here. If you?d rather watch a quick video, watch this. The best introduction to this subject though, is a film called Sand Wars. If you haven?t already watched it, please do watch this investigative documentary made by the award-winning film maker Denis Delestrac. It was quite an eye-opener for me and I feel very privileged to have worked with Denis."
Kiran Pereira
Source/publisher:
Sandstories
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-15
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
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Individual Documents
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"Sand mining is not only often carried out illegally, it can also have devastating consequences on the environment that can endanger the lives of local populations. Sand mining can lead to the degradation of river beds, erosion of banks, deterioration of water quality, reduction of ground-water availability, reduction of crops yields? In Sri Lanka, it has been convincingly proven that excessive sand mining aggravated the impact of the 2004 tsunami.
Still, as sand is a crucial resource for the construction sector, sand mining is booming and continues to take a serious toll on the health of rivers and coastlines worldwide.
This publication documents the efforts made in Sri Lanka to counter illegal river sand mining. In 2005, a campaign was initiated against river sand mining by the Sri Lanka Water Partnership, the Network for Women Water Professionals (NetWwater) and partners. WIN and GWP provided additional support to their efforts from 2008.
The campaign is a widespread effort to engage with multiple stakeholders from civil society, government, regulatory authorities, law enforcement, religious authorities and the media to raise awareness about the impact of sand mining and encourage action and stronger regulation. This case highlights the role that law enforcers needs to play in protecting natural resources and the environment and how engaging with these stakeholders helped bring about concrete change in how illegal sand mining is addressed and limited..."
Kiran Pereira
Source/publisher:
Water Integrity Network
Date of publication:
2013-10-08
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
"Sand is a resource whose economic value belies the crucial role it plays in our lives. The process of development in India has so far not taken into account the environmental and social consequences of indiscriminate sand mining. Sand is a resource whose economic value belies the crucial role it plays in our lives. The process of development in India has so far not taken into account the environmental and social consequences of indiscriminate sand mining.
In fact, sand mining is surprisingly an intensely politicised phenomenon that has gone unchecked for many decades in the country. However, with supply sources being mined faster than nature?s factory can replenish, we are coming up against new challenges that go beyond a mere short supply of a specific resource.
Research has now discovered that indiscriminate mining of sand from riverbeds, creeks and beaches has cumulative effects and potentially devastating consequences for the society that depends on those environments directly and indirectly. These effects, particularly those related to water security in the region are a cause for grave concern. According to United Nations definitions, India is already officially classified as water stressed.
A recent report by HSBC too states that water availability is expected to be dangerously near extreme scarcity levels by 2030. This article attempts to tease out the bigger picture about the dangers of dredging indiscriminately in the quest for modernization and how these threats are compounded by corruption in the sector and a lack of integrity. This situation presents a threat and an opportunity for innovation in both policy and industry."
Kiran Pereira
Source/publisher:
India Water Portal
Date of publication:
2012-12-17
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
"Water does not exist in isolation. It is an integral part of any ecosystem and as such, every major change to this ecosystem has hydrological impacts which then lead to sociological, economic and other environmental consequences. The world?s freshwater resources are under threat from a wide variety of factors. Many of them such as over-abstraction of water from rivers and aquifers, pollution from point and non-point sources, changing patterns of precipitation are popularly known, debated and discussed widely. However, there are other crucial factors with significant social, environmental and economic impacts that are less known. One such threat is an activity known as ?sand mining? also referred to as dredging or gravel mining. and mining has several negative impacts.
It poses a threat to water security in several ways. Dredging results in lowering of the alluvial water table which, in turn, directly affects groundwater storage capacity (See Kondolf et al., 2001). Excessive dredging allows for saline intrusion into groundwater (Viswanathan, 2002). The lowered water table implies a rise in water costs, thus restricting access to only those who can afford it (Hoering, 2008). It results in habitat loss including destruction and fragmentation of fragile, endangered ecosystems and reduced species richness (See Myers, 1999, Global Witness, 2010).Sand mining also causes increased shoreline erosion rates, especially when mined unscientifically (Byrnes et al., 2000) and decreases protection from sea water especially during ocean disasters (Myers, 1999). It also poses a threat to critical infrastructure such as bridges, roads, railway tracks (Kondolf et al., 2001). Sand mining has also been known to cause loss of livelihoods in several instances (See Hoering, 2008, Young and Griffith, 2009 and Viswanathan, 2002). Other macroeconomic impacts have also been observed such as changes in land use patterns (Myers 1999) and increased public health costs (Myers & Muhajir I997, Mensah, 1997).
The demand for sand is fuelled by numerous factors. It appears that sand has long been commoditized and is now entrenched in global trade. Table 1 below illustrates the high trade value of this commodity. Despite the high value of this trade, or perhaps because of it, the activity is surprisingly depoliticized except when there are public concerns in specific areas..."
Kiran Pereira
Source/publisher:
Coastalcare.org
Date of publication:
2012-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
"The multi award-winning eco-thriller by Denis Delestrac...
By the end of the 21st century, beaches will be a thing of the past. That is the alarming forecast of a growing number of scientists and environmental NGOs. Sand has become a vital commodity for our modern economies: we use it in our toothpaste, detergents, and cosmetics, and computers and mobile phones couldn?t exist without it. Our houses, skyscrapers, bridges and airports are all basically made with sand: it has become the most widely consumed natural resource on the planet after fresh water. The worldwide construction boom fuelled by emerging economies and increasing urbanization has led to intensive sand extraction on land and in the oceans, with damaging environmental impacts. Sand Wars takes us around the world as it tracks the contractors, sand smugglers and unscrupulous property developers involved in the new gold rush, and meets the environmentalists and local populations struggling to reverse the threat to the future of this resource that we all take for granted."
Denis Delestrac
Source/publisher:
Vimeo
Date of publication:
2013-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, (commentary, speech and subtitles)
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