Sand Dredging Is ‘Sterilizing’ Ocean Floor, UN Warns

Sand-dredging ships with Chinese flags are seen from a Taiwanese coast guard ship patrolling in the waters off the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, January 28, 2021.
Sand-dredging ships with Chinese flags are seen from a Taiwanese coast guard ship patrolling in the waters off the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, January 28, 2021.
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Sand Dredging Is ‘Sterilizing’ Ocean Floor, UN Warns

Sand-dredging ships with Chinese flags are seen from a Taiwanese coast guard ship patrolling in the waters off the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, January 28, 2021.
Sand-dredging ships with Chinese flags are seen from a Taiwanese coast guard ship patrolling in the waters off the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, January 28, 2021.

Around 6 billion tons of marine sand is being dug up each year in a growing practice that a UN agency said is unsustainable and can wipe out local marine life irreversibly.

Sand is the most exploited natural resource in the world after water but its extraction for use in industries like construction is only loosely governed, prompting the UN to pass a resolution last year to promote more sustainable mining.

The findings from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) coincide with the launch of a new platform "Marine Sand Watch" backed by funding from the Swiss government that monitors dredging activities using marine tracking and artificial intelligence.

"The amount of sand we are withdrawing from the environment is considerable and has a large impact," UNEP's Pascal Peduzzi told a Geneva press briefing.

Pointing to an image of a ship he described as a "giant vacuum cleaner" he said such vessels were "basically sterilizing the bottom of the sea by extracting sand and crunching all the microorganisms that are feeding fish".

In some cases, companies remove all the sand to the bedrock, meaning that "life may never recover", Peduzzi added.

While globally the 6 billion being extracted is less than the sand deposited annually by the world's rivers, in some areas the removal is surpassing replenishment rates, UNEP said.

The South China Sea, the North Sea and the east coast of the United States are among the areas where the most dredging has occurred, said Arnaud Vander Velpen, a sand industry and data analytics officer with the University of Geneva.

China, the Netherlands, the United States and Belgium are among the countries most active in the sector, he said.



Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
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Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Syria’s minister of emergencies and disaster management on Tuesday requested support from the European Union to battle wildfires that have swept through a vast stretch of forested land.

The fires have been burning for six days, with Syrian emergency crews struggling to bring them under control amid strong winds and severe drought.

Neighboring countries Jordan, Lebanon and Türkiye have already dispatched firefighting teams to assist in the response.

“We asked the European Union for help in extinguishing the fires,” minister Raed al-Saleh said on X, adding Cyprus was expected to send aid on Tuesday, AFP reported.

“Fear of the fires spreading due to strong winds last night prompted us to evacuate 25 families to ensure their safety without any human casualties,” he added.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) office in Syria, the fires impacted “some 5,000 persons, including displacements, across 60 communities.”

An estimated 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of forest and farmland -- more than three percent of Syria’s forest cover -- have burned, OCHA told AFP.

At least seven towns in Latakia province have been evacuated as a precaution.

Efforts to extinguish the fires have been hindered by “rugged terrain, the absence of firebreaks, strong winds, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance”, Saleh said.

With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.

In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years.”