Sustainable Sand Mining and Environmental Impacts
Summary
The extraction of sand, a critical component of construction aggregates, has surged globally in response to urbanisation and infrastructure development. Yet this intensification poses profound environmental and social challenges: riverbed degradation, coastal erosion, loss of biodiversity, water quality deterioration and community displacement. Sustainable management demands a balance between meeting demand and preserving ecosystem function. Innovative approaches encompass strengthened regulatory frameworks, site-specific restoration of mined areas, adoption of recycled and alternative materials, and holistic assessments of supply networks from extraction to end use. Collective efforts across disciplines are driving the design of traceable supply chains, the development of quantitative indicators for ecological and social impacts, and the integration of policy instruments such as extraction allowances and trade schemes. By reframing sand mining as a coupled human-natural system, stakeholders can foster resilient landscapes, safeguard provisioning ecosystem services and mitigate long-term scarcity risks.
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Sustainable Sand Mining and Environmental Impacts publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in sustainable sand mining and environmental impacts across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Provisioning ecosystem service: Benefits provided by ecosystems through the supply of natural resources, such as sand for construction.
Dredging: The process of excavating sediment from water bodies to harvest materials like sand and gravel.
Construction aggregates: Granular materials including sand, gravel and crushed rock used in building and infrastructure projects.
Sand-supply network: The integrated system of extraction, processing and distribution channels that deliver sand from source to end user.
References
- The environmental impacts of river sand mining. The Science of The Total Environment (2022).
- Sustainability of the global sand system in the Anthropocene. One Earth (2021).
- Can smart policies solve the sand mining problem?. PLOS ONE (2021).
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