A Looming Tragedy of the Sand Commons Increasing Sand Extraction, Trade, and Consumption Pose Global Sustainability Challenges

INSIGHTS

PERSPECTIVES

ENVIRONMENT A looming tragedy of the sand commons Increasing sand extraction, trade, and consumption pose global sustainability challenges

By Aurora Torres,1,2 Jodi Brandt,3 of activities that demand the use of increas- Kristen Lear,4 Jianguo Liu5 ing amounts of sand. In the following, we identify linkages between sand extraction etween 1900 and 2010, the global and other global sustainability challenges. Downloaded from volume of natural resources used in buildings and transport infrastruc- ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ture increased 23-fold (1). Sand and Sand extraction from rivers, beaches, and gravel are the largest portion of these seafloors affects ecosystem integrity through primary material inputs (79% or 28.6 erosion, physical disturbance of benthic

Bgigatons per year in 2010) and are the most habitats, and suspended sediments (5). Thus, http://science.sciencemag.org/ extracted group of materials worldwide, ex- extensive mining is likely to place enormous systems may disrupt the productivity of both ceeding fossil fuels and biomass (2). In most burdens on habitats, migratory pathways, wild (e.g., fisheries) and cultivated (e.g., mari- regions, sand is a common-pool resource, i.e., ecological communities, and food webs. culture and croplands) food sources. In the a resource that is open to all because access For instance, sand mining degrades corals, Mekong Delta, sand mining is responsible can be limited only at high cost. Because of seaweeds, and seagrass meadows through for enhanced salt-wedge intrusion during the the difficulty in regulating their consump- direct removal during dredging operations, dry season, which damages domestic water tion, common-pool resources are prone to sedimentation, and reduction in light avail- supply and increases salinization of culti- tragedies of the commons as people may self- ability that compromises photosynthesis (6). vated land in Southeast Asia’s most impor- ishly extract them without considering long- As a result, it is a driver of biodiversity loss tant food-producing region (10). In Sri Lanka,

term consequences, eventually leading to that threatens species on the verge of extinc- saltwater intrusion due to extensive illegal overexploitation or degradation. Even when tion—such as the Ganges river dolphin (7)— sand mining has affected drinking water sup- on September 7, 2017 sand mining is regulated, it is often subject to as well as newly discovered species, such as ply and led to severe declines in productivity rampant illegal extraction and trade (3). As a the São Paulo marsh antwren, found in iso- of crops (e.g., coconut, rubber, and tea) (11). result, sand scarcity (4) is an emerging issue lated marshes of southeast Brazil that have Health impacts associated with sand min- with major sociopolitical, economic, and en- been heavily degraded by sand mining (8). ing remain poorly characterized, but there is vironmental implications. Furthermore, sand transport vessels may evidence that the conditions created by ex- Rapid urban expansion is the main driver carry one of the most aggressive freshwater tracting sand can facilitate the spread of in- of increasing sand appropriation, because invaders, the Asian clam (9), although the fectious diseases. New standing-water pools sand is a key ingredient of concrete, as- role of sand transport in the spread of inva- created by extraction activities in rivers and phalt, glass, and electronics. Urban develop- sive species remains underexplored. stream beds provide potential breeding sites ment is thus putting more and more strain for malaria-transmitting mosquitoes. Hence, on limited sand deposits, causing conflicts CASCADING EFFECTS sand mining has been associated with the around the world (5). Further strains on Such environmental impacts have cascad- spread of malaria. For example, Soleimani- sand deposits arise from escalating trans- ing effects on the provisioning of ecosystem Ahmadi et al. (12) have shown that in Iran, formations in the land-sea interface as a services and human well-being. For example, the most common larval habitats for anophe-

result of burgeoning coastal populations, sand mining is a frequent cause of shoreline line larvae of two malaria vectors (Anopheles T I V E land scarcity, and rising threats from cli- and river erosion and destabilization, which dthali and Anopheles stephensi) are sand- mate change and coastal erosion (5). Even undermine human resilience to natural mining pools. Sand mining has also been hydraulic fracturing is among the plethora hazards such as storm surges and tsunami associated with increased incidence of an A P HI C R E O G R

events, especially as sea level continues to emerging bacterial disease, the Buruli ulcer, G E 1German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) rise (10). In Sri Lanka, extensive sand mining in West Africa (13). Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig 04103, Germany. 2Institute of exacerbated the impacts of the 2004 Indian The high profits generated by sand trade T I O NA L Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale) Ocean tsunami; ironically, sand demand for often lead to social and political conflicts, in- 3 O N/ NA

06108, Germany. Human Environment Systems Institute, S U

College of Innovation and Design, Boise State University, Boise, coastal restoration increased in the after- cluding violence, rampant illegal extraction G ID, USA. 4Integrative Conservation, Warnell School of Forestry math of the tsunami (11). and trade, and political tensions between

and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. Extensive sand extraction also impairs wa- nations. For example, in India, the “Sand A M F E R 5Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department AD O : of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, ter and food security. Extraction-induced ero- Mafia” is considered one of the most power- T

MI 48823, USA. Email: [email protected]; [email protected] sion and degradation of riverine and coastal ful and violent organized crime groups, and P HO

970 8 SEPTEMBER 2017 • VOL 357 ISSUE 6355 sciencemag.org SCIENCE

Published by AAAS

DA_0908Perspectives.indd 970 9/6/17 11:57 AM Illegal sand mining on the bank of the Yamuna by its extraction and consumption. Use of River in Greater Noida, India, is contributing to this approach would help to unravel inter- severe environmental degradation. connections between distant places such as importing and exporting countries, clarify responsibilities of local and remote extraction of sand, address spillover effects such as invasive species or carbon emissions, guide policies across scales and boundar- ies, and anticipate cascading effects such as those described above. On the governance side, efforts to increase efficiency of sand use and trade should in- clude recycling policies and avoiding waste along the supply chain. However, although recycling helps alleviate pressures on sand resources, there are currently no alterna- tives to satisfying skyrocketing global demand without drastic innovation. Achieving responsible consumption will require foster- ing coordination among multiple national Downloaded from and international policies; establishing con- trols on planning, permission, prospecting, extraction, and monitoring for the mining industry; developing payments for environmental and social damage; and building

capacity for the sustainability of sand appro- http://science.sciencemag.org/ hundreds of people have been killed in “sand newable resource. Sand is scattered all over priation. Simultaneously, regulations should wars” (3). To gain land through land-recla- Earth’s crust and, in some deposits, is con- be crafted for local contexts (15) and must be mation projects, Singapore relies on sand tinually replenished by sediment transport. accompanied by effective enforcement and imports from neighboring countries; the lat- Furthermore, it is relatively inexpensive to monitoring. With increased attention to the ter lose sand and suffer the consequences of extract, and as in the case of many mined complex linkages of sand scarcity, our global mining, frequently leading to political ten- substances, the negative consequences of community can begin to understand how to sions, accusations of illegal sand extraction, mining are not felt at the point of consump- use sand more sustainably and avert a trag- and sand export bans (5). tion, but rather in the poorer regions where edy of the sand commons. j All these challenges have important impli- mining occurs. But is this perception of sand REFERENCES AND NOTES

cations for environmental justice. The degra- as an abundant and renewable resource a 1. F. Krausmann et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114, 1880 on September 7, 2017 dation brought about or reinforced through delusion? Sand is a scarce resource in many (2017). sand extraction places heavy burdens on local parts of the world, but it is unclear if, globally, 2. H. Schandl et al., in “Global Material Flows and Resource populations, especially on farmers, fishers, sand demand exceeds supply. We urgently Productivity. An Assessment Study of the UNEP International Resource Panel” (U.N. Environment and those—typically women—fetching water need to move beyond estimating past and fu- Programme, Paris, 2016), pp. 30–34. for households. People from these popula- ture sand demand and toward disentangling 3. A. Rege, Int. J. Comp. Appl. Crim. Justice 40, 101 (2015). tions may become environmental refugees, the global sand budget. 4. W. J. Sutherland et al., Trends Ecol. Evol. 32, 31 (2017). as has already happened in Sri Lanka and the To illuminate complex interlinkages be- 5. P. Peduzzi, Environ. Dev. 11, 208 (2014). 6. M. W. Fraser et al., Ecol. Indic. 78, 229 (2017). Mekong Delta (10, 11). Increased vulnerabil- tween sand demand, mining, trade, trans- 7. M. K. Mazumder, F. Boro, B. Barbhuiya, U. Singha, Glob. Ecol. ity of eroded areas to flooding and landslides port, and consumption, researchers must use Conserv. 2, 359 (2014). may directly displace populations, as shown interdisciplinary approaches. Systems inte- 8. D. R. C. Buzzetti, R. Belmonte-Lopes, B. L. Reinert, L. F. Silveira, M. R. Bornschein, Rev. Bras. Ornitol. 21, 269 (2013). by the recent relocation of over 1200 house- gration frameworks and methods have been 9. F. E. Lucy, A. Y. Karatayev, L. E. Burlakova, Aquat. Invasions 7, holds in Vietnam (10). useful in addressing management challenges 465 (2012). of other resources such as water and carbon 10. E. J. Anthony et al., Sci. Rep. 5, 14745 (2015). 11. K. Pereira, R. Ratnayake, Water Integrity in Action. Curbing IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH (14). Considering all systems, from extractive Illegal Sand Mining in Sri Lanka (Water Integrity Network, AND GOVERNANCE areas to consumption points, in a holistic and Berlin, 2013). Current development trends suggest that systematic way will help to elucidate the hid- 12. M. Soleimani-Ahmadi et al., Asian Pac. J. Trop. Med. 6, 510 (2013). sand demand will increase further in the den impacts of sand extraction and trade. 13. R. W. Merritt et al., PLOS Negl. Trop. Dis. 4, e911 (2010). coming years. The resulting acceleration of For instance, applying the framework 14. J. Liu et al., Science 347, 1258832 (2015). sand extraction, trade, and consumption will of telecoupling—long-distance interactions 15. E. Ostrom, Science 325, 419 (2009).

have escalating effects on environmental and between socioeconomic and environmen- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS human systems. There is a pressing need for tal systems (14)—to this issue would allow We thank S. Nichols for helpful comments on an earlier version an effective global sand governance system. capturing complex relationships and global and acknowledge funding from the U.S. National Science Effective governance will require detailed consequences across three intertwined sys- Foundation, NASA-MSU Professional Enhancement Awards Program, US-IALE Foreign Scholar Travel Award Program, knowledge of how much sand is used locally tems: the sending systems where sand is Dartmouth Neukom Institute, and Michigan AgBioResearch. as well as globally and how much of this sand mined; the receiving systems, such as urban At the start of this project, A.T. was at the Museo Nacional de is replenished through natural processes. areas, where sand is consumed; and spill- Ciencias Naturales, Madrid. Several characteristics of sand contribute to over systems—that is, areas through which the impression that it is an abundant or re- the sand is transported or that are affected 10.11126/science.aao0503

SCIENCE sciencemag.org 8 SEPTEMBER 2017 • VOL 357 ISSUE 6355 971

Published by AAAS

DA_0908Perspectives.indd 971 9/6/17 11:57 AM A looming tragedy of the sand commons Aurora Torres, Jodi Brandt, Kristen Lear and Jianguo Liu

Science 357 (6355), 970-971. DOI: 10.1126/science.aao0503 Downloaded from

ARTICLE TOOLS http://science.sciencemag.org/content/357/6355/970

REFERENCES This article cites 13 articles, 3 of which you can access for free http://science.sciencemag.org/ http://science.sciencemag.org/content/357/6355/970#BIBL

PERMISSIONS http://www.sciencemag.org/help/reprints-and-permissions

on September 7, 2017

Use of this article is subject to the Terms of Service

Science (print ISSN 0036-8075; online ISSN 1095-9203) is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005. 2017 © The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. The title Science is a registered trademark of AAAS.