Illegal Sand Mining Devastates Morocco’s Coastline, Report Warns

In its latest report on the "Mechanisms for issuing permits and controlling the exploitation of natural resources (water resources and quarries)" of which the Al3omk site has a copy, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) sounds the alarm on the illegal extraction of coastal sand. The institution states that half of the sand used in Morocco, the equivalent of 10 million cubic meters per year, comes from the illegal extraction of coastal sand. As a result, a wide coastal strip between Safi and Essaouira has been transformed into a bare rocky area. The excessive exploitation of certain types of quarries produces tangible short, medium and long-term impacts, including the "destruction and degradation of ecosystems and habitats, changes in landscapes, damage to road infrastructure, etc.", the report states.

These illegal activities can also harm territories and public health through pollution and noise, affect the fertility of land neighboring the quarries and the livelihoods of local populations living near the quarries, such as the abandonment of certain income-generating activities such as agriculture or tourism, and undermine food and water security. Some residents have had to settle in other regions. Other consequences: the decrease in the value of properties, and the attractiveness of the territories.

The Council of Ahmed Reda Chami also points to the negligence of some operators of former quarries. They leave these sites after their exploitation without carrying out the necessary rehabilitation work, or they carry them out in a manner that does not comply with the established standards. As a result, landscape disfigurement is observed, and these sites become hotbeds of danger or sources of pollution, especially when they are used as illegal landfills, which negatively affects ecosystems and groundwater, the CESE report notes.