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Lafayette College

Publication Date

Spring 2015

Program Name

Tanzania-Zanzibar: Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management

Abstract

Resource consumption is one of the most crucial environmental problems facing the world today. Therefore nonrenewable resources need to be sustainably used to ensure the survival of both future generations and the resources at stake. The goal of this study was to investigate the impacts of sand mining on the environment, economy, and communities of Zanzibar. The environmental, economic, and social impacts of sand mining activities were studied at various sites on the island of Unguja. The effects on vegetation, coastal erosion, communities, and local economies were researched based on field observations and interviews with local people and officials at the various sites. Five primary sites were visited throughout this study, three illegal quarries, one abandoned legal quarry, and one active legal quarry. The environmental impacts at each of the five sites were decidedly destructive, and the economic and social results were also found to be generally harmful as many people, children, and animals have drowned and the number of fruitbearing trees and farms are shrinking, which decreases local incomes. The accelerated erosion, lack of plant regeneration, and reported issues with mining in local communities demonstrate that sand mining in Unguja has had adverse impacts overall.

Disciplines

Agricultural and Resource Economics | Agricultural Economics | Agricultural Education | Agriculture | Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis | Environmental Studies | Food Security

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