“The already excavated area drained the underground water from the gardens nearby,” the environment group said.“Those areas used for gardening and rice growing are no more in their natural form.”
The group said the sand mining affects not only women gardeners but also forestry.
“If the sand dune is very close to the forest and is mined without limitation, it drained the moisture part of the whole area that is to be used by the bushes and the forests around,” they said
The concerned group said sand mining activities at the coastal zone encourages flooding, destroys turtle breeding sites, drives small wild animals away, discourages tourism, and continues to cause several other environmental hazards.
The group said Buba Touray, secretary of Gunjur Konoto Community Forest Park, said the authorities should consider their concerns because “the forest belongs to the whole Gambia” despite it being owned by the Konoto family.
