For the Caribbean, effective conservation and utilisation of sand supplies cannot simply be a vague aspiration of the eco to-do list; it’s critical to the future viability of regional tourism, and also the physical territory of nations increasingly battling against an endless ocean that seeks to reclaim land. Despite this, states in this region have long wrestled with how best to define a proper sand management policy, especially when it has entailed hard choices between urgent economic need today and environmental protection for tomorrow.
Getting a Lay of the Land
Readers of STAR Businessweek who are not familiar with the ins and outs of sand mining may appreciate a brief overview. Sand mining has long been practised in the region, and around the world. Typically, the sand that is dredged is used in construction projects.
Sand is critical, especially in low-lying islands, for the maintenance and use of coastline. Sand is also (seemingly) abundant and the use of it has been expensive to regulate. This means it’s a common target for theft, given its ubiquitous presence, the (comparatively) low surveillance surrounding it, and the simple fact that few members of the public are likely to take notice of workmen filling a truck on the beach in the same way they would several masked bandits running out of a bank with bags of cash in-hand.
The scale of theft need not be small. In 2008 thieves in Jamaica effectively stole a whole beach – some 500 truck loads of sand from Coral Spring beach in Trelawny. It has since been theorised that the stolen goods were used by some resorts, but obviously it can be hard to determine where the proceeds of the theft went, given that sand would blend in with other sand.
Going Against the Grain
Excess mining of sand has been a problem across the world, with episodes in South Africa, across the MENA region and here in the Caribbean affirming that this is very much a global challenge, but one that can have harmful local consequences. This is especially vivid in Asia right now.
Between 2000 and 2017 Shanghai saw 7 million new residents skyrocket its population to 23 million. It’s no surprise that such a population surge led to a huge new construction drive. Over decades the immense bustle of ship activity on Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River helped convert Shanghai from a one-time small fishing village into a city of skyscrapers, but it’s not been without consequence. Reportedly by the late 1990s the environmental effects of China’s demand for sand were already visible, with the structural integrity of bridges and riverbanks surrounding Shanghai diminished, and shipping routes entangled.
Elsewhere, the amount of sand used in India for construction has more than tripled since 2000. What’s more, Singapore’s quest to reclaim land via the use of regional sand has been so voracious that Indonesia and Malaysia have previously banned sand exports to the city state.
These events show that there is not going to be a cessation in demand for sand any time soon. But the failure to find a way to meet demand in an environmentally friendly manner gives rise to serious dangers. In 2001 a bridge collapse in Portugal was as a result of sand mining; as was the collapse of a bridge in Taiwan the previous year. Beyond these incidents, there is the less visible but overall more profound damage done by coastal erosion that ruins animal habitats and threatens daily life of anyone who works or resides by the shore.
Sink or Swim in Barbuda and Barbados
Barbudan Arthur Nibbs was an anti-sand mining advocate until his mind changed. In 2013 he made headlines when he famously said, “Would you prefer to appear to be protecting the environment and then have your people going hungry with no food on their table and people can’t pay their bills?” For a nation that had been sand mining since 1976, doing away with an industry rapidly was never going to be easy.
Just as Mr Nibbs spoke of the desperation of the issue, so too did Dr Lorna Inniss of Barbados’ Coastal Zone Management Unit in 2014, albeit in a different way. Dr Inniss indicated that the survival of SIDS depended upon their capacity to stop sand mining. Reflecting on the experience of Barbados, she advised that it was also necessary to see work begin on an inventory in order to calculate the precise amount of sand required over subsequent years for sand dune construction.
This is a critical consideration for nations already struggling to deal with the consequences of sand mining. In the year ahead, a huge spike in sand demand is expected, especially as many coastal replenishment programmes need to be redone over the years as sand depletes. This means that Caribbean states already short of sand could soon find territory being reclaimed by the sea. In the meantime, there are more immediate concerns to contend with, including here in Saint Lucia.
Holding the Line in Vieux Fort
The situation in Vieux Fort illustrates the broader environmental consequences of sand mining. The coast around the town has posed problems before, with the Saint Lucia National Trust undertaking works in 2018 to restore diminished sand dunes. Sand mining was carried out as part of the Desert Star Holdings horse racing track project. Local residents allege that as a consequence of sand excavation near the mouth of the river, the rock barrier which had been placed there to prevent sea water flooding the local houses was exposed, making it impossible to pass between the sea and the river to get to the highway; also, that as a result of this work, heavy rainfall could lead to substantial damage to residents’ properties.
Can ‘Sand Rights’ Conserve What is Left?
Such an experience adds credence to the notion that greater recognition of ‘sand rights’ should occur. It’s a concept that seeks to allocate to those who remove sand the responsibility for preventing any resultant damage, or rectifying that which has occurred. Although penalties can already be applied for trespass and environmental damage, supporting such a concept should become more critical in the minds of lawmakers who must acknowledge that the growing challenge of climate change will increase the need for stronger protection of coastlines and management of sand holdings. There must also be laws to tackle businesses and individuals who may be tempted to replenish their diminishing coastline without going through the proper processes, and without care for the consequences.
