A newly launched UN data platform, Marine Sand Watch, reveals shocking statistics about the marine dredging industry’s impact, extracting a staggering six billion tons of sand and sediment annually. Developed by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the platform employs artificial intelligence and ship signals to monitor sand, clay, silt, gravel, and rock extraction in marine environments. The data underscores the urgent need for improved management of marine sand resources and a reduction in the environmental impacts of shallow sea mining.
While the platform is groundbreaking, it currently cannot detect artisanal and small-scale mining along shallow coastlines, despite its intensity in some regions. Pascal Peduzzi, Director of GRID-Geneva at UNEP, emphasizes the alarming environmental impacts of shallow sea mining and dredging, including biodiversity loss, water turbidity, and noise effects on marine mammals.
Between four and eight billion tons of sediment are dredged annually from marine and coastal environments, perilously close to the natural replenishment rate needed to sustain coastal and marine ecosystems. The report calls for better management practices, treating sand as a strategic material, and international standards governing marine sand extraction. It also recommends enhanced monitoring, ending sand extraction from beaches, and discouraging mining in active beach-nearshore sand systems. The findings emphasize the global threat to coastal communities and ecosystems, urging swift action to address the crisis.