{"id":29665,"date":"2025-08-01T01:52:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T23:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/save-us.life\/?p=29665"},"modified":"2025-08-01T14:43:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:43:52","slug":"the-looting-of-african-beaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/save-us.life\/zh\/archives\/29665","title":{"rendered":"The looting of African beaches\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

African beaches are plundered by the glass and cement industries, sand is a natural resource increasingly exploited.\u00a0On the African continent, the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar has recently declared itself short of sand.\u00a0Its extraction, often illegal, poses a new threat to coastlines and their ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denis Delestrac\u2019s documentary, S and Wars, on the screens of the Franco-German channel Arte, illustrates how sand has become the new gold for many.\u00a0This business thrives, often illegally, because of the development of the construction sector around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Pascal Peduzzi of GRID-Geneva, one of the information centers of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the consumption would be between \u00ab30 and 50 billion tons per year\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incessant looting for this essential ingredient in the manufacture of concrete, cement, but also glass, and supplier of silica found in electronic systems, televisions or laptops, has led to the multiplication of sources of supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the resource becomes scarce, according to a UNEP report published in 2014, beaches and the seabed are increasingly stressed, even if this sand must be desalinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many countries in the world, African states have finally legislated to protect coastlines.\u00a0But this has not stopped illegal extraction or the deterioration of ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"CDE-TUNISIA-0031\"

In Senegal, for example, extraction in the public sea sand quarry at Mbeubeuss in the commune of Malika (located on the coast north of the Senegalese capital, Dakar) has been prohibited since 8 June 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, years of exploitation, which continues illegally to the great displeasure of the populations, have weakened beaches that today suffer from coastal erosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the small town of Cape Verde, illegal sand mining is also in full swing. \u201cThe Sand Thieves\u201d is the name given to the many Cape Verdeans who take sand from the country\u2019s beaches to support their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, since January 2017, the semi-autonomous archipelago of Tanzania, Zanzibar, has decided to import sand to reserve the 14.7 hectares of sand it now has. \u201cWe have no more sand to build because resources have been drastically depleted in the last ten years,\u201d said Hamad Rashid Mohamed, Minister of Agriculture. \u201c The archipelago now prohibits the extraction of sand, often taken from the maritime coasts and therefore from its sublime beaches, while waiting to find \u00aban alternative to non-renewable materials\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In North African countries, such as Morocco, sand exploitation on beaches is (also) a problem, explains Pascal Peduzzi, author of the UNEP report on sand scarcity. It takes thousands of years to create a beach. But in a few days, it can be destroyed, leaving only the bedrock. In which case the beach is lost and with it all the services it offers: tourism, natural habitat, storm surge protection\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018When sand is extracted from the seabed,\u2019 adds Pascal Peduzzi, \u2018it is the balance of the food chain (editor\u2019s note: food chain) that is shaken up, because it is in the seabed that the food of small fish is found, thus affecting the largest fish and hence biodiversity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Multi<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Tunisia, sand extraction on beaches has caused other types of environmental damage. \u2018Some people took sand to build on the Kerkennah archipelago (east coast of Tunisia). They don\u2019t necessarily have many options either (\u2026). But how can people develop without shooting themselves in the foot, without making themselves more vulnerable to rising sea levels, salinization of their soils?\u2019 Pascal Peduzzi concludes: \u2018The sand issue is complex. However, we cannot extract 30 billion tonnes a year without significant impacts.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Africa\u2019s development must not be inspired by the bad examples that have generated all the climate problems we are currently experiencing,\u2019 said the director of GRID-Geneva. African countries must adopt legislation and environmental governance that preserves the health of populations and their ecosystems. There is still time for many African countries to make a smooth start.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

African beaches are plundered by the glass and cement industries, sand is a natural resource increasingly exploited. On the African continent, the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar has recently declared itself short of sand. Its extraction, often illegal, poses a new threat to coastlines and their ecosystems. Denis Delestrac\u2019s documentary, S and Wars, on the screens of the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":29666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment"],"yoast_head":"\nThe looting of African beaches\u00a0 - Save Us<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/save-us.life\/zh\/archives\/29665\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The looting of African beaches\u00a0 - Save Us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"African beaches are plundered by the glass and cement industries, sand is a natural resource increasingly exploited. On the African continent, the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar has recently declared itself short of sand. Its extraction, often illegal, poses a new threat to coastlines and their ecosystems. 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