Export of Sand to Singapore Devastating Cambodian Ecology, Report Says

The dredging of massive amounts of sand in Cambodia for use in Singapore landfills is destroying the habitat of endangered species and harming the Cambodian fishing industry, according to a report by a UK-based watchdog group. According to Global Witness, Singapore has expanded its territory by 22 percent since the 1960s by filling coastal seabeds with sand to create valuable new waterfront property. The greatest source of that sand currently is Cambodia. While the Cambodian government last year imposed a ban on sand exports, the report says tens of thousands of tons of sand are still being removed from the country’s rivers and estuaries, and government leaders — including two senators close to Prime Minister Hun Sen — have facilitated the operations. The group says much of the sand is coming from important marine ecosystems — including seagrass beds, mangroves, and coral reefs — and threatening species such as green turtles and a manatee-like creature, the dugong. Inadequate safeguards have caused a reduction of fish stocks and devastated harvests of swimming crabs. In Singapore, the sand-dredging operation from one Cambodian province alone generated about $248 million in retail value, according to the report. Read the report