Researchers to investigate hidden costs of sand mining

A new project led by the University of Southampton will explore how sandmining along the Mekong River is dramatically reshaping not only the river itself, but also the lives of those who live along its banks.

Researchers hope to shed light on this vast yet murky industry which is redrawing national boundaries around the world.

The contemporary world is built on sand. From construction to high tech silicon chips, sand underpins huge swathes of the global economy and is the most consumed natural resource after water.

The appetite for sand is also growing rapidly, with global demand set to double over the next 40 years. Sand extracted from developing countries is being used to develop and expand richer nations, such as Singapore which has imported enough sand to increase its landmass by 25 per cent in the last 200 years.

“This booming trade in sand has hidden costs,” says Professor Julian Leyland from the University of Southampton who is leading the HIDDEN SANDS project and has been studying sandmining in the Mekong region over the last decade .

“In extracting countries, ecosystems have been severely disrupted by the removal of millions of tonnes of sediment for both domestic and international markets. Although these operations are vast, they are also poorly regulated, and this has fuelled exploitation, corruption and criminal activity.

“The impacts can be devastating for local communities who have had to bear the socioenvironmental and political costs of the rush for sand.”

Researchers from the University of Southampton and Royal Holloway University of London are undertaking a multifaceted project to comprehensively reveal the environmental, social, economic and cultural impacts of sandmining.

They’ll be doing this in the Cambodian Mekong - one of the world’s most socially and ecologically important river systems, but also one of the most intensively sand-mined places on the planet, with 77 per cent of its sediment load mined since 1994.

Prof Steve Darby , a coinvestigator on the project from the University of Southampton said: “There is still a dearth of information on how much sand is being extracted, where it is going to, and how it is being used. The impacts on physical and ecological river functioning are still not understood, especially in relation to fish spawning and migration.”

Dr Laurie Parsons, a coinvestigator from Royal Holloway, added: “There has also been no systematic study of the impact of sand extraction on local communities, potential labour rights abuses, and displacement of local populations.

“Despite its rapidly increasing cost, sand is undervalued, although by how much, when considering the physical and socioecological damage that it causes, is a huge unknown and that is something our project aims to address.”

The team will use high-tech satellite mapping coupled with ‘on the ground’ monitoring to measure the riverbed as it is being mined and track the movements of sand barges. Using this data, they will be able to not only model where riverbanks are at risk of erosion, but also see where the sand is being taken and how it is being used.

At the same time, researchers will be capturing the experience of local communities, labourers working in the sand trade, and environmental advocates. They’ll also be working with Cambodian based journalists and artists to share these stories and bring them to life.

Dr Alexandra Antonopoulou, a practice based researcher and coinvestigator at University of Southampton, said: “The communities impacted by the sand extraction and trade will drive the direction of our research and be given voice through a range of possible written, oral or artistic outlets for communication of their stories.”

All aspects of the project will be captured within a Digital Twin, which will be available publicly both online and using immersive VR technology, allowing users to engage with the issue.

Dr William Jamieson, a research coinvestigator from Royal Holloway, said: “The digital twin will ingest real-time data from citizen science monitoring stations, river flow and bank sensors, and socio-economic data, such as population mobility and sand costs. Users will be able to visualise how the riverbed and riverbanks are responding to sand mining.

“Crucially, users will also be able to hear from people directly impacted by the sand trade.”

The HIDDEN SAND project has been funded by the UK Research and Innovation’s flagship cross-research council scheme . The scheme supports new and creative ideas interdisciplinary research not usually funded.