In the early morning hours of May 18, 2025, residents of Vietnam’s An Giang Province fled their homes as they crashed into the Ong Chuong River below. While no one was injured in the collapse, 10 families were displaced, losing their homes and many cherished belongings.
Disasters like this in the Mekong Delta are a result of natural erosion combined with illegal sand mining. In 2017, Vietnam banned sand mining exports from the Mekong Delta, yet mining in the region continues.
Sand, a vital resource, is the most extracted solid material on Earth, and demand for it continues to increase as populations, economies, and cities grow. A recent report from the UN Environment Programme highlights the critical importance of this resource and how demand is outpacing sustainable supply.
The Importance of Sand
Looking at a picture of the rolling, orange dunes in the Sahara Desert, one might think that sand is an infinite resource, spanning as far as the eye can see. Yet the reality is the opposite.
Due to constant wind erosion smoothing grains of desert sand, this widely available sand is not viable for concrete production. Therefore, sand must be taken from sensitive ecosystems full of life, including coastlands, riverbeds, and floodplains.
Pascal Peduzzi, Director of the UNEP Global Resource Information Database Geneva, said:
“Sand is sometimes referred to as the unrecognized hero of development, but its essential role in sustaining the natural services on which we depend is even more overlooked. Sand is our first line of defence against sea level rise, storm surges, and salination of coastal aquifers – all hazards exacerbated by climate change.”
Sand provides essential habitats for countless species, ranging from tiny microorganisms to the critically endangered gharial crocodiles in India and Nepal. It is a key part of Earth’s biodiversity, providing nesting sites for sea turtles and burrows for crabs.
Sand also plays an important role in regulating ecological processes, providing drainage and filtration in soil and balancing water flow and riverbed stability.
Despite sand’s vital importance, human activities are utilizing sand at an alarming rate, putting these vulnerable habitats and ecological processes at risk.
The Sand Gap
Human use of sand is outpacing its replenishment, creating the sand gap.
Sand is created through geological processes that occur slowly and gradually. As rocks travel down rivers or streams and are eroded by weather conditions, they break down bit by bit, sometimes taking thousands of years to reach a sand-like consistency.
On May 12, the UNEP published its third Sand and Sustainability report. The report highlights how 50 billion tonnes of sand are extracted for human use each year. This is expected to increase by 45% by 2060.
After water, sand is the most exploited natural resource. Unsustainable extraction of sand is destroying natural ecosystems and the livelihoods of people in affected areas. UNEP says that around half of dredging companies are operating within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which account for 15% of the total volume dredged.
Sand is categorized as “dead” and “alive.” “Dead” sand refers to sand used in concrete, glass, and other processes that remove it from natural systems. “Alive” sand provides essential functions for ecosystems and sustains life on our planet. Both states are in high demand across the planet as the sand gap grows.
Bridging the Gap
Sand is essential to our environment. Acknowledging its importance is key to protecting this vital resource.
In the report, the UNEP calls on governments to strengthen protections for sand by recognizing it as a strategic asset. It recommends creating national roadmaps for “responsible sand management.”
Several tools for creating these roadmaps are already in existence, such as the UNEP’s Marine Sand Watch and Sand Assessment Tool. Using these tools, governments around the world could create intervention systems that better sand governance.
The report also highlights a discrepancy between data and transparency. Increasing transparency and standardizing reporting would help deter illegal practices and enhance government control.
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Beyond government oversight, new, sustainable materials must be developed to curb the use of sand in construction. Scientists are developing sustainable concrete using recycled glass powder and agro-industrial waste, including sugarcane bagasse ash and coal bottom ash.
As the world continues to develop, sand demand will continue to grow. Solutions are needed now to close the sand gap and preserve global ecosystems and biodiversity.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — In the Cover Photo: Aerial view of sand mining operations with machinery and patterned landscape in Reads Landing, MN. Cover Photo Credit: Tom Fisk.
