JAKARTA -- As Asia's economies grow and its cities modernize, the region's voracious appetite for construction materials has driven demand for sand -- alongside illegal trade of the commodity -- to unprecedented levels. With rapid urbanization and infrastructure expansion, some countries are mining surrounding seas and their river and lake beds at a pace that could have grave implications for the environment.
Along with gravel, cement and water, sand is needed to make up the trillions of tons of concrete used so far in laying Asia's new roads and constructing tens of thousands of urban buildings.
