Vad händer om sanden skulle ta slut?

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Sanden är grunden till vår moderna civilisation. Det är materialet som vi sällan tänker på, men som är helt avgörande för urbaniseringen. Men sanden är ingen oändlig resurs, på sina platser har den redan börjat ta slut. 

Utvinningen leder till förödande miljöförstörelse och sociala konflikter.

Sandmaffior som med våld och korruption underminerar rättssäkerheten breder ut sig i flera länder. Vad händer om sanden skulle ta slut?

Programledare och producent: Erik Petersson och Jennifer Sjöblom

Källförteckning

Medverkande

• Vince Beiser - journalist och författare och har skrivit boken The World in a Grain

• Per J Andersson - journalist och författare till boken Sand - jakten på råvaran som formar vår värld

• Jean-Baptiste Jouffray - forskare på Stockholm resilience center och Stanfords universitet

• Pascal Peduzzi - föreståndare på GRID Geneve

• Ilangovan Rajasekaran - journalist på The Hindu

Andra vi har varit i kontakt med

• Mattias Göransson - statsgeolog på SGU 

• Luís Fernando Ramadon - fd federal polis i Rio de Janiero, expert på illegal sandutvinnign 

Böcker och tryckta källor

• Sand - jakten på råvaran som formar vår värld, av Per J Andersson

• The World in a Grain, av Vince Beiser

Klipp

• TV band Rio: Ecko, Zinho, Faustão: entenda como funciona a milícia carioca
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AeZGUBENoQ 

• Brasil Urgente: Zinho preso: Saiba quem é o chefe da maior milícia do RJ I Brasil Urgente https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKKSTpJwCm4&t=3s 

• NDTV: Gangsters Set Fire To 35 Buses In Brazil After Crime Boss Killed By Police

• https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/watch-gangsters-set-fire-to-35-buses-in-brazil-after-crime-boss-killed-by-police-4514424 

• UGreen: O Negócio Bilionário da MÁFIA DA AREIA no Brasil e como Rios, Dunas e Cidades Pagam a Conta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZX833CAMJY 

• TV Brasil: RJ | Milícias que atuam na extração ilegal de areia são alvo de operação

• Sjungande sand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40Qs-0AI9MA&t=16s & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40Qs-0AI9MA&t=16s 

Källor i urval

• Dokumentären Sand Wars

• Dokumentären Lost World

• NRP: Planet Money: Peak Sand https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/07/13/628894815/episode-853-peak-sand 

• Reuters: Devoured: How China’s largest freshwater lake was decimated by sand mining https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/SAND-POYANG/qzjpqxxabvx/ 

• Studie: Rethinking sand as earth material for a sustainable construction in Egypt

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/built-environment/articles/10.3389/fbuil.2025.1566515/full 

• Studie: Quantifying the informal sand market and its consequences: The case of Brazil
  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211464524000708 

• Nesta: Against the grain: building a future safe from sand crime
  https://www.nesta.org.uk/feature/future-signals-2026/sand-crime/ 

• Beneath the sands: ‘We can’t run away’ https://www.beneaththesands.earth/we-cant-run-away 

• GlobalGeneva: Sand: The Hidden Crisis - And New Gold - At Our Feet
  https://www.global-geneva.com/development/science/sand-the-hidden-crisis-at-our-feet 

• The Times of India: Sand Mafia’s Chilling Death Threat Jolts Ghat Owners, Who’s sleeping? https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/sand-mafias-chilling-death-threat-jolts-ghat-owners-whos-sleeping/articleshow/130564031.cms# 

• Forbidden Stories: Sand mafias silence journalists in India

https://forbiddenstories.org/sand-mafias-silence-journalists-in-india/#:~:text=Burnt%20alive,over%2050%25%20of%20his%20body. 

• Studie: Abundant resources in an era of scarcity: Systemic aspects of the Global sand and gravel crisis https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921344925005087 

• UNEP: The problem with our dwindling sand reserves
  https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/problem-our-dwindling-sand-reserves

• Reporters without borders: India: Uttar Pradesh reporter gunned down for covering sand mafia
  https://rsf.org/en/india-uttar-pradesh-reporter-gunned-down-covering-sand-mafia 

• Dagens arena: Vårt samhälle är ett enda stort sandslott
  https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/07/13/628894815/episode-853-peak-sand

• Studie: Abundant resources in an era of scarcity: Systemic aspects of the Global sand and gravel crisis https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/abundant-resources-in-an-era-of-scarcity-systemic-aspects-of-the/

• Studie: The environmental impacts of river sand mining
  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722029746 

• Sandstories: The global estimated value of illegal sand extraction: Guest post by Luis Fernando Ramadon
  https://www.sandstories.org/stories/estimated-annual-value-illegal-sand-extraction-lfr 

• Forbidden stories: Sand mafias silence journalists in India
  https://forbiddenstories.org/sand-mafias-silence-journalists-in-india/#:~:text=Burnt%20alive,over%2050%25%20of%20his%20body.

• Svt: Bristen på laglig sand har skapat en sandmaffia https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/bristen-pa-laglig-sand-har-skapat-en-sandmaffia 

• Scientific American: Inside the crime rings trafficking sand
  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sand-mafias-are-plundering-the-earth/ 

• Le monde: India's 'sand mafias have power, money and weapons'
  https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2022/09/12/in-india-sand-mafias-have-power-money-and-weapons_5996639_114.html 

• In sight Crime: The Mafias Behind Sand Trafficking in Latin America
  https://insightcrime.org/news/the-mafias-behind-sand-trafficking-in-latin-america/ 

• Stockholm Resilience Center: Finding sand solutions for desirable futures
  https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-stories/2026-02-19-finding-sand-solutions-for-desirable-futures.html 

• BBC: How the scramble for sand is destroying the Mekong

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50629100 

• UNEP: Rapporten Sand And Sustainability
  https://wedocs.unep.org/items/b037d0d7-b899-4969-9b9a-b5c36dd32abe 

• Sveriges Geologiska undersökning: Grus, sand och krossberg 2024: https://resource.sgu.se/dokument/publikation/pp/pp202503rapport/pp2025-3-rapport.pdf

• Rapport: Reportrar utan gränser: https://rsf.org/en/almost-half-28-journalists-killed-india-modi-became-pm-were-covering-environment-related-stories