Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development

The Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development highlights sand’s multiple values to modern society, as well as its often overlooked ’non-use’ values when left within functioning ecosystems where it underpins livelihoods, water security, food systems, territorial integrity, and shelter. The report examines the growing environmental, social, and economic pressures linked to rising global sand demand and identifies key gaps in governance, biodiversity integration, monitoring, and long-term planning. It presents 24 strategic actions for governments, industry, financial institutions, and civil society to better govern sand resources and their multiple values, prioritise long-term planning, transform financial systems, reduce unnecessary demand, strengthen circularity, improve transparency and monitoring, and fully integrate biodiversity considerations into decision-making.