SAND WARS

For most of us, sand evokes little more than beaches, sunshine and vacations. Yet these tiny little rocks are far from insignificant. Omnipresent in our daily lives and indispensable to our modern economies, sand is used in almost every sector, starting with construction. Every year, 15 billion tons are mined worldwide!

Yet this resource is not unlimited, and its unbridled exploitation is beginning to cause irreversible damage... While reserves are dwindling, public works groups continue to relentlessly extract sand from the coasts and the seabed. What are the consequences for the environment and local populations? Today, scientists and environmentalists are sounding the alarm. If we don't act soon, beaches could disappear from the face of the Earth.

This meticulous and thrilling investigation takes us to the four corners of the globe – from Mumbai to Dubai, via Tangiers and the Maldives – to examine the workings of this new gold rush. Giving the floor to international experts, it reveals the underside of an unsuspected and unprecedented ecological, social and human drama.