Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88

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Ocean & Coastal Management

journalhomepage:www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman

An overview of the management policy for marine sand mining in Israeli

Mediterranean shallow waters
Tamar Trop
Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Management, Faculty of Management, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave. Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838,
Israel

article info abstract

Article history: In Israel, the ever-increasing interest in mining and dumping of marine sand in the shallow waters of the Mediterranean (up to
Received 6 January 2017 depth of 30 m) on the one hand, and the growing concern for the marine envi-ronment on the other, have led to the formulation
Received in revised form
of various policy tools intended for the rational management of this resource. However, the comprehensiveness and
24 June 2017
sustainability of this policy, and its adherence to international obligations and customs, remains unclear.
Accepted 25 June 2017

This paper provides a structured overview of the management policy governing the extraction and dumping of marine sand
in the Israeli Mediterranean shallow waters, and the way environmental values are being taken into account in the regulatory
Keywords:
process. It then examines the way in which two main international policiesdUNCLOS (not yet ratified by Israel) and the
Marine sand extraction
Marine sand mining protocol on ICZM (ratified by Israel), which provide principles and standards for the management of environmental risks
Seabed mining associated with marine mining activities in the Mediterranean Seadare transposed into local legal procedures and regulatory
Marine sand management requirements.
Offshore sand mining
The study reveals that the Israeli marine sand regulatory framework embraced most of the environ-mental principles and
guidelines laid down in the main international conventions. However, several essential issues still need to be addressed. At
present, the use of marine sand is usually managed with one key activity in mind, without an all-encompassing policy and
monitoring program. As a result, the impact of cumulative effect of extracting and dumping activities (the “big picture”) is
overlooked. The study recommends to formulate a sound policy that can be adjusted for social/economic developments as they
occur, and can facilitate the response to a wide range of future scenarios while adhering to a sustainability agenda. This policy
should be based on up-to-date and standardized data gathered through a national monitoring program and stored in an
accessible database. The analysis method and results can form a basis for discussion with other experts working in the field,
and may be useful for future man-agement decisions and for other coastal regions in the world.

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Marine sand resources are used in the modern era for many purposes, such
as land reclamation (e.g., for building/extension of ports), industry, protection
and restoration of coastal areas and wetlands, and nourishment of recreational
beaches to compensate for sand loss in areas susceptible to erosion (Drucker
et al., 2004; Gubbay, 2005). Since the 1980s, the increasing demand and inef-
ficient management of seabed mining, including of marine sand, have led
several countries to allocate substantial funds for marine
studies, and to regulate and provide guidelines and procedures to mitigate the
potential environmental damage from these activities (Cayocca and Du
Gardin, 2003; Vivian, 2003; Drucker et al., 2004; Birklund and Wijsman,
2005; Gubbay, 2005; Marine Mineral Services, 2006; UNEP, 2014;
Uscinowicz et al., 2014). To date, however, only a fraction of the sea has been
scientifically studied and there is a dearth of conceptually sound analytical
studies for estimating environmental damage resulting from marine sand
extraction (Phua et al., 2004; UNEP, 2014); hence, limited infor-mation exists
on which sound management decisions can be based. Nonetheless, given the
nature, scale, and location of proposed seabed sand extraction activities,
serious and, in some cases, widespread negative impacts on habitats and
marine life can

E-mail address: tammy20@015.net.il.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2017.06.013 0964-
5691/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
78 T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88
reasonably be expected. Therefore, marine sand management may be
improved by studies that shed light on extraction policies aimed at reducing
negative impacts and increasing social benefits. In assessing possible policies,
it is appropriate to consider what can be learned from the development and
implementation of regulatory frameworks in other countries, in similar
contexts.
In Israel, marine sand deposits situated on the continental shelf of the
country's coastal waters in the Mediterranean Sea (CWMS) represent a
valuable resource, which is allocated mainly for build-ing and extension of
ports, and for ongoing and future beach nourishment and coastline protection
programs. During the past two decades, both public and regulatory authorities
in Israel have increased their focus on sustainable management of coastal and
marine resources generally, including marine sand. In the context of offshore
sand extraction and dumping on the continental shelf in the CWMS, this
trajectory manifests itself, explicitly and implicitly, in various decisions,
policy papers, regulations, guidelines, pro-cedures, and planning instructions.
Yet, the comprehensiveness and sustainability of the regulatory framework
for the management of these activities is not clear. The ever-increasing
demand for marine resources in the CWMS on the one hand, and the growing
concern for the marine environment, on the other, underscore the need for
better understanding of the current policy for seabed sand mining and its
adherence to international requirements.
This study was conducted in response to the need to understand the policy
for marine sand management in Israel. The paper focuses on sand situated in
the shallow waters (up to a depth of 30 m) along the continental shelf in the
CWMS, and discusses the institutional frameworks within which the
extraction and dumping activities take place. The main objective of this paper
is to provide a struc-tured overview of laws, policies, plans, and regulations
concerning shallow marine sand mining in Israel and the way environmental
values are being taken into account in the regulatory process. The
fundamental question addressed herein concerns the degree of
comprehensiveness and sustainability of the current management policy. The
detailed study goals are as follows:
a) to review and analyze the current regulatory framework appli-cable to
shallow marine sand in CWMS, including context-specific seabed
extraction/dumping measures to mitigate negative ecological effects; and
b) to examine the adherence of the Israeli shallow marine sand
extraction/dumping regulations and activities to the environ-mental
management principles required by the 1982 United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and by the 2008 Protocol on Integrated
Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), from the 1978 Convention for the
Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the
Mediterra-nean (Barcelona Convention).
2. Seabed sand mining
2.1. Definitions
“Seabed mining” is defined as the commercial recovery of minerals
(including sand) at or below the seabed surface (Conwell, 1976). Seabed
mining is variously referred to as sea-based mining, seafloor mining, offshore
marine mining, shallow-water mining, shallow marine mining, mid-water
mining, deep-water mining, and deep sea mining. The mining activity is also
variously referred to as extraction, excavation, or dredging. The different
names reflect a spectrum of activities that differ in methods of mineral mining
and in the depth or geographic location at which mining is undertaken. In this
paper, when referring to all sand mining
activities in the shallow marine area (up to a depth of 30 m), “seabed sand
mining” and the following synonyms will be used: seabed sand extraction,
marine sand mining/extraction, offshore sand mining/extraction, and shallow
marine sand mining/ extraction.
2.2. Brief history of seabed sand mining
The reduction of historic landside sources of sand has led to a
corresponding move toward mining the continental shelf to meet the growing
demand for this resource (Rona, 2002, 2008; Littleboy and Boughen, 2007;
Parr, 2008). In the 1970s, the mineral potential of the seabed was widely
discussed; the industry grew throughout the 1980s and then stalled in the
1990s (Cook, 1974; Conwell,1976; Clark and Clark, 1986; Littleboy and
Boughen, 2007). The stalling was largely due to questions about sea mineral
rights, lack of cost-effective enabling technology, low market prices for
minerals of interest, the existence of unexploited ore bodies on land that could
be exploited with new technologies, uncertainty about environ-mental
impacts, difficulty of internalizing mining externalities, in-efficiency of
management policies, and the absence of a strong “social license to operate”
in the seabed environment (Earney, 2005; Littleboy and Boughen, 2007;
Rosenbaum, 2011). Many of these factors and issues remain relevant or
unresolved. However, in light of the current resurgent interest in seabed sand
mining and the expected continuation and escalation of offshore sand mining,
several companies and countries are pursuing dedicated research and
programs of technological innovation (Littleboy and Boughen, 2007;
Schroder, 2010; Van Dover, 2011; Epa, 2012).
2.3. Impacts of seabed sand mining
Compared to land-based mining, seabed sand mining is rela-tively novel,
technically innovative, and constrained by limited in-formation on the actual
or potential impacts on the marine environment, on other marine resource
industries, and on methods for managing these impacts.
Most serious physical and biological impacts of marine sand
extraction/dumping are related to substratum removal; alteration of the
bottom topography and sediment composition; changes in depth and current
strength; modification of hydrologic conditions; burial of productive habitats
during beach nourishment or other shoreline stabilization activities; release of
harmful or toxic mate-rials either in association with actual mining or from
incidental or accidental releases from machinery and materials used for
mining, and the creation of plumes through disturbance by the drag head and
from screening (De Groot, 1986; Krautkraemer, 1998; Newell et al., 1998,
2004; Hacking, 2003; Allsopp et al., 2013; Uscinowicz et al., 2014). Next to
the indirect physical effects of sand extrac-tion on the macrofaunal
community, the direct removal of species and individuals is considered as the
main biological impact. Dredging causes an initial reduction in abundance,
species di-versity, and biomass of the benthic community in the extraction
area (Pearce, 1994; Desprez, 2000; Sarda et al., 2000; Van Dalfsen and
Essink, 2001; Newell et al., 2004; Sanchez-Moyano et al., 2004; Desprez et
al., 2010; Krause et al., 2010).
2.4. The demand for marine sand in Israel
The Israeli shoreline along the Mediterranean Sea extends 197 km from
the border with Lebanon in the north to the border with Gaza Strip in the
south. Israel's marine space contains three zones, the definitions of which are
excerpted from the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS): (a) the coastal (territorial/sovereign) waters, which extend to a
distance of 12
 T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88
nautical miles seaward from the shoreline; (b) the contiguous zone, which
extends a further 12 nautical miles beyond the coastal wa-ters, and constitutes
a part of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ); and (c) the EEZ, which
extends beyond the coastal waters to the mid-line between Cyprus and Israel,
as agreed between them. The borders of the EEZ in the north and south have
been marked as is customary in this matter between countries, but without any
consent or agreement with Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority or Egypt. In the
EEZ, the country does not have full sovereignty and only enjoys exclusive
economic rights, one of which is the right to utilize mineral resources on and
under the seabed. However, sand extraction and dumping is carried out only
in the Israeli shallow waters.
Almost the entire shoreline is covered with sand, which is transported
mostly from the Nile Delta (Zvieli et al., 2007). The orientation of the Israeli
coastline, combined with local climatic conditions, favors sand transport from
south to north (Almagor and Hall, 1984; Kit and Pelinovsky, 1998; Kit and
Sladkevich, 2001; Kunitsa et al., 2005; DHI, 2013) (Fig. 1).
In Israel, the activities of shallow marine sand extraction and dumping of
dredged sand along the Mediterranean Sea have been constantly increasing in
recent decades. To date, only non-commercial extraction and dumping of
marine sand has taken place in Israeli waters. Essentially, these activities are
carried out for beach nourishment, tombolo effect maintenance, and for the
development and maintenance of harbors, marinas, power plant cooling
ponds, and other marine facilities and structures. Addi-tional ongoing
activities, which are expected to intensify, are related to adaptation to sea
level rise and provide added protection at the foot of eroding coastal cliffs.
Nevertheless, the growing de-mand for construction aggregate suggests a
possible additional demand for offshore sand resources, as conventional
onshore sources become exhausted or are lost to competing land uses.
Sand extraction involves the dredging of access canals to har-bors and
marinas, sand accumulations on the updrift side of coastal
Fig. 1. Longshore sand transport along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Source: Zvieli et al. (2007).
79
structures, and tombolos. Sea sand may be extracted (at a depth shallower
than 30 m) also from two offshore sites: the Haifa Bay Site, which constitutes
the northernmost final depositional sink of Nile-derived quartz sand, and the
Ashdod South Site, which ex-tends from south of the bathing beaches of the
city of Ashdod to the Avtach River nature reserve.
It has been estimated that, to date, approximately 20 million cubic meters
of sea sand has been mined from the Mediterranean, mostly for the
development of Haifa and Ashdod harbors. Sand dredged from access canals,
power plant cooling ponds, and around other marine structures, which has no
parallel demand for beach nourishment or for construction of marine
structures, is usually dumped at depths deeper than 6 m.
2.5. Relevant existing international policies
Operational costs dictate that most marine aggregate extrac-tions are
carried out at short distances from landing ports and at water depths of less
than about 50 m. As these activities occur close to shore, they are generally
under national jurisdictions. The same applies to exclusive economic zones or
to the continental shelf, where coastal states exercise sovereign rights to
explore and exploit natural resources (Radzevicius et al., 2010); hence the
need for appropriate national policies.
Notwithstanding several important international conventions, no global
standards exist (Radzevicius et al., 2010; Velegrakis et al., 2010). The 1982
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), provides a
comprehensive international legal regime for the world's oceans and seas. It
provides for the delimitation of maritime zones (a territorial sea, a contiguous
zone, an exclusive economic zonedEEZ, and a continental shelf) and
regulates rights and obligations regarding usage, development, and
preservation of these zones, including resource mining (Radzevicius et al.,
2010). A number of regional conventions have been ratified with the aim of
minimizing the impact of human activities, and that include,
80 T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88
directly or indirectly, references to aggregate exploitation. These include the
Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environ-ment of the North East
Atlantic, 1992 (OSPAR Convention), the Convention on the Protection of the
Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992 (Helsinki Convention), the
Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution,
1976, the Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), 2008,
from the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment, and the
Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Conven-tion), 1978. Others
include the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, 1958,
the Convention on the High Seas, 1958, the Convention on the Continental
Shelf, 1958, the Conven-tion for the International Council for the Exploration
of the Sea (ICES), 1964, the Convention on Environmental Impact
Assessment in a transboundary context, 1991 (ESPOO Convention), the
Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment, 2003 (SEA Protocol), and
the Protocol on land-based sources of pollution from the Conven-tion for the
Protection and Development of the Marine Environ-ment in the Wider
Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention). As things stand, the governance is
not coherent and includes several layers of regulations among national and
international conventions.
In addition to the conventions listed above, it is worth mentioning two EU
relevant Directives which provide guidance for maritime spatial planning and
data sharing. Directive 2014/89/EU establishes a framework for sustainable
maritime spatial planning. It includes reference to extraction of raw materials
from the sea as one of the activities and land uses that EU Member States
should take into consideration, and emphasizes the importance of sharing the
necessary information among the Member States. INSPIRE Directive (May
2007) aims to create a European Union spatial data infrastructure for the
purposes of EU environmental policies and policies or activities which may
have an impact on the environ-ment. This infrastructure is supposed to enable
the sharing of environmental spatial information, including maritime data.
At present, two international policy frameworks provide some guidelines
for the management of marine aggregate extraction in the Mediterranean Sea:
the comprehensive framework provided by UNCLOS, and the regional
framework provided by the Protocol on ICZM.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982
In accordance with UNCLOS, countries are required to apply regulations
to activities undertaken in their national jurisdictions that are no less effective
than international rules, regulations, and procedures (UNCLOS, Article 208
and ITLOS Advisory Opinion, 2011). Under this framework, operators
undertaking seabed min-ing exploration or exploitation activities are required
to:
prevent, reduce, and control pollution and other hazards to the marine
environment, applying a precautionary approach and best environmental
practices;
gather environmental baseline data against which to assess the likely
effects of their activities on the marine environment;
establish comprehensive programs for monitoring and evalu-ating the
impacts of seabed mining on the marine environment; include proposals,
as may be appropriate, for “impact reference zones” (areas which are to be
used for assessing the effect of activities on the marine environment that
are representative of the environmental characteristics of the area being
impacted);
and
include proposals, as may be appropriate, for “preservation reference
zones” (areas in which no mining shall occur to ensure
representative and stable biota of the seabed to assess any changes in
marine biodiversity).
Only seven member states of the United Nations have not rati-fied this
convention; two of these being the United States and Israel.
The Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), 2008,
Barcelona Convention
Article 4.3(e) of the Barcelona Convention requests the con-tracting
parties to promote the integrated management of the coastal zones, taking into
account the protection of areas of ecological and landscape interest and the
rational use of natural resources. In 2008, a Protocol was developed to
provide a common framework for the contracting parties to promote and
implement integrated coastal zone management (ICZM). The protocol was
ratified by Israel in April 2014. Article 2(e) of the protocol defines “coastal
zone” as “the geomorphologic area either side of the seashore in which the
interaction between the marine and land parts occurs in the form of complex
ecological and resource systems made up of biotic and abiotic components
coexisting and interacting with human communities and relevant
socioeconomic activities.” Under this framework, operators undertaking
seabed mining exploration or exploitation activities are required to:
conduct maritime activities in such a manner as to ensure the preservation
of coastal ecosystems in conformity with the rules, standards, and
procedures of the relevant international conventions;
adopt measures to ensure the protection and conservation, through
legislation, planning, and management, of marine and coastal areas, in
particular of those hosting habitats and species of high conservation value;
define indicators of the development of economic activities to ensure
sustainable use of coastal zones and reduce pressures that exceed their
carrying capacity;
ensure that various economic activities minimize the use of natural
resources and take into account the needs of future generations;
minimize negative effects from maritime activities and struc-tures on
coastal erosion;
regulate the extraction of sand, including on the seabed and river
sediments, or prohibit it where it is likely to have an adverse effect on the
equilibrium of coastal ecosystems;
subject the excavation and extraction of minerals to prior authorization;
subject maritime infrastructure, facilities, works, and structures to
authorization so that their negative impact on coastal eco-systems,
landscapes, and geomorphology is minimized or, where appropriate,
compensated by non-financial measures;
conduct preliminary assessments of the risks associated with the various
human activities and infrastructure so as to prevent and reduce their
negative impact on coastal zones;
environmental assessments should take into consideration the cumulative
impacts on the coastal zones, paying due attention, inter alia, to their
carrying capacities;
establish and maintain up-to-date assessments of the use and management
of coastal zones;
ensure institutional coordination, where necessary, through appropriate
bodies or mechanisms;
use and strengthen existing appropriate mechanisms for monitoring and
observation, or create new ones if necessary; and
prepare and regularly update national inventories of coastal zones, which
should cover, as far as possible, information on
 T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88
resources and activities, as well as on institutions, legislation, and
planning that may influence coastal zones.
These lists of international requirements provide important guidance on
accepted principles and standards for the manage-ment of risks to the
environment associated with marine mining activities. These requirements
will be used as points of reference in analyzing the Israeli shallow marine
sand mining policy.
3. Method
Currently, extraction and dumping of marine sand in the shallow waters
along the Israeli coast of the Mediterranean Sea is subject to a number of
legal procedures and regulatory re-quirements. This regulatory framework
comprises a combination of legislation and planning administered at a central,
regional, or local level, and includes various statutory and non-statutory
documents. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a structured
overview of this framework to determine its comprehensiveness and to assess
its adherence to relevant international obligations and customs.
The structured analysis of the relevant documents was per-formed in two
stages: (a) a qualitative content analysis of legisla-tion and of policy and
planning documents, according to assessment frameworks designed to guide
the analysis and to enable its consistency across the different documents; and
(b) ex-amination of adherence of the management principles and guide-lines
manifested in the entire regulatory framework to environmental management
principles and guidelines required by the relevant international policies, as
outlined in detail in the previous section.
The following legislative items were included in the content analysis: nine
laws (and their relevant amendments), one bill, and two regulations (including
procedures), as presented in Table 1. The analysis referred to the following
policy components: (a) marine sand protection approach; (b) ownership
rights; (c) appropriate uses; (d) administration; (e) licensing; (f) monitoring
and environmental management; and (g) damage responsibility and
enforcement. The results of this analysis are presented in Section 4.1.
The analysis of policy and planning included the following key
documents: three working papers, four policy papers, three local-level outline
plans, and 13 national-level outline plans, as pre-sented in Table 2 in section
4.2. The analysis of marine sand man-agement principles and guidelines,
which were manifested in the policy and planning documents, either explicitly
or implicitly, referred to the following policy components: (a) the sand
sources allowed for extraction; (b) the appropriate uses of marine sand; (c) the
main “customers” for marine sand; and (d) regulatory re-quirements in regard
to planning, extracting, dumping, using, monitoring, and environmental
management. The results of this analysis are presented in Section 4.2.
The analysis of the entire regulatory framework for shallow marine sand
management referred to the adherence of the prin-ciples and guidelines for
marine sand management that were referred to in each document, either
explicitly or implicitly, to environmental management principles required by
UNCLOS and by the protocol on ICZM. The results of this analysis are
presented in Section 4.3.
The regulatory framework for shallow marine sand management was
analyzed and assessed in relation to what is possible within the Israeli
planning system. Most of the key documents were published recently (within
the last 10 years) and represent the country's up-to-date approach to the
management of marine sand.
81
4. Results
4.1. Legislative framework
Within the current legislative framework, several items of legislation have
a significant bearing on current and potential sand extraction/dumping in
Israeli waters. These items reflect the ma-rine sand protection approach and
define the procedural issues associated with the management of this resource,
such as owner-ship rights, appropriate uses, administration, licensing,
monitoring and environmental management, and damage responsibility and
policy enforcement (Table 1).
An examination of the legislative framework for marine sand management
shows that the resource management approach largely reflects the required
principles and guidelines laid down in the main international conventions.
They include regulation, ensuring institutional coordination, being subject to
prior autho-rization, applying a precautionary approach, considering carrying
capacity, and adopting measures to protect and conserve habitats and species
of high conservation value.
The legislative framework also indicates national ownership of the marine
sand resource, and that it will be used for public benefit, either as an
economically valuable resource in itself, or as a means of protecting the
natural and heritage assets of the ma-rine environment, with all its unique
values. The Israel Land Au-thority (ILA) is authorized by law to manage the
resource in general, but the law stipulates that all mining and dumping of
marine sand, except for the maintenance of ports, is subject to the receipt of a
permit from the Permits Committee. Legislation has not yet been passed
regarding aspects of environmental man-agement and monitoring, and the
definition of responsibility and liability of those who hold the right to use
marine sand, but these aspects are included in the Marine Regions Bill (2014).
This Bill was prepared by the Ministry of Justice and is awaiting first reading.
Table 3 in section 4.3 presents the degree of adherence of the current and
pending legislation to environmental management principles required by
UNCLOS and by the protocol on ICZM.
4.2. The planning framework
A list of key policy and planning documents with respect to marine sand
in Israeli Mediterranean shallow waters is presented in Table 2.
The policy and planning documents listed in Table 2 referred to the
following policy components of marine sand management.
4.2.1. Marine sand sources
The documents analyzed refer to four types of marine sand sources from a
depth shallower than 30 m, as follows:
1) Sand mined within the boundaries of ports and marinas. The sand source
is from excavation and ongoing maintenance of ports, marinas, and power
plant cooling ponds and their envi-ronments. The sand is extracted from
entrance channels to ports and docks, in the maneuvering areas of ports, at
the entrance to maritime constructions, and shipping canals.
2) Sand previously accumulated in dumping groundsdareas in which sand
was deposited in the past within the framework of port development, such
as the national offshore borrow pit to the west of Ashdod Port. Sand may
be excavated from this area down to the natural pre-dumping seabed
surface.
3) Sand accumulated on the updrift side of coastal structures.
4) Sand from the (natural) open seabeddsites that will be found suitable for
sand mining to a water depth of 30 m or more.
Table 1
Summary of Israeli current and pending legislation with respect to marine sand.
Component Approach
Protection approach Adherence to international law;
regulation;
ensuring institutional coordination;
subject to prior authorization;
applying a precautionary approach;
considering carrying capacity;
adopting measures to protect and
conserve habitats and species of high
conservation value
Sand ownership rights Marine sand is property of the State;
all national laws are applicable at sea
Appropriate uses Marine sand shall be used for public
benefit and for the protection of the
marine environment
Administration Marine sand resources are generally
administered by the Israel Land
Administration
Relevant law/Item
Protection of the Coastal Environment Law
2004 (amendments 2007, 2008)
Bill - Marine Regions Law - 2014 (intended to
replace the Underwater Territories Law, 1953
and the Seashore Water Law, 1956)
Mining Ordinance 1925
State Property Law 1951
Underwater Territories Law 1953
Land Law 1969
Bill - Marine Regions Law 2014
Land Law 1969
Israel Land Administration Law 1960
(Amendment 10)
Protection of the Coastal Environment Law
2004
Israel Land Administration Law 1960
(Amendment 7)
82
Item no. Application for marine sand
a “Coastal environment” is defined as an area extending 300 m inland, measured from the
Mediterranean coastline … as well as the area measured from the Mediterranean coastline
… seaward to the limit of the territorial waters (Article 1).
“Seacoast area” (included in the “coastal environment”) e a 100-m area to be measured
inland from the coastline as well as the area measured seaward from the coastline in
respect of the Mediterranean e to a water depth line of 30 m in the sea or to a distance of 1
nautical mile, whichever is furthest from the coastline (Article 6).
“Coastal sand” e unstabilized sand, found in the seacoast area (Article 2).
The aim of the law is to protect the coastal environment, its natural and heritage assets; to
restore and conserve them as a resource of unique value, and to prevent and reduce, as far
as possible, any damage to them; to preserve the coastal environment and coastal sand for
the benefit and enjoyment of the public and for future generations, and to establish
principles and limitations for the sustainable management, development, and use of the
coastal environment (Article 1).
An authority authorized to grant a license, permit, or instruction for any activity within the
seacoast area shall do so, as far as possible, in a way that is designed to reduce damage to
the coastal environment (Article 3a).
T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88
A Committee for the Protection of the Coastal Environment shall be established alongside
the National Board [Article 21 (4) (2)].
b The aim of the Marine Areas Law (inter alia) is to establish the State's authority, rights, and
duties in the various parts of Israel's marine space, including its coastal waters, the area
adjacent to it and the EEZ; to define responsibilities and delegate authority in line with
international law (including UNCLOS, ICZM Protocol, and The Convention on Biological
Diversity); to promote the adoption of an ecosystem approach and accountability for
damages, transparency, and public participation.
The law proposes to set binding instructions for the preparation of strategic
environmental impact assessment to inform policies for marine resource extraction
[Article 14 (1)].
c All minerals discovered by digging or prospecting are the property of the State (Article 36).
d Property of the State of Israel includes: all mines and minerals of whatever kind, situated
in or on land, or in, on, or under water, including rivers, lakes, inland seas, and coastal
a
waters [Article 1 (2)].
Subject to the provision of subsections (b) and (c), the Government may, on behalf of the
State, sell or otherwise dispose of, let, grant the lease of, exchange, mortgage, partition,
divide, amalgamate, permit the use or exploitation of or otherwise grant rights in State
property … on such conditions as it may think fit [Article 5(a)].
e The territory of the State of Israel shall include the seabed and the subsoil of the
underwater areas adjacent to Israel‘s coast, which are outside the territorial waters,
wherever the depth of the water facilitates the exploitation of natural resources in those
areas (Section 1a).
f Land under Israel's territorial waters and lakes is public land and property of the State
(Article 108)
b Natural resources, excluding protected natural assets, as defined in National Parks and
Nature Reserves Law, 1964, are property of the State, as defined in State Property Law,
1951.
f Public land is intended for public benefit (Article 107).
g The Israel Land Administration's functions are as follows: allocation of land for housing …
open space allotments and for other purposes in locations and amounts required for the
needs of economy, society and environment, including future needs, etc. (Article 2a).
a The aim of the law is to protect the coastal environment, its natural and heritage assets; to
restore and conserve them as a resource of unique value, and to prevent and reduce, as far
as possible, any damage to them; to preserve the coastal environment and coastal sand for
the benefit and enjoyment of the public, and for future generations; etc. (Article 1).
g The Government shall establish an "Israel Land Administration" to administer Israel's land
(Article 2a)
The Government shall appoint the "Israel Land Council," which shall lay down the land
policy in accordance with which the Administration shall act. (Article 3).
 Marine sand dumping and extraction is, Prevention of Sea Pollution (Dumping of Waste) h in fact,
administered by the Permits Law 1983 Committee
Licensing regime A building permit is required for marine
sand extraction, except for
maintenance of ports and marinas
A permit from the Permits Committee is Mining Ordinance 1925
required for sand dumping into the sea;
de facto, the Committee also grants
permits for sand extraction;
a license will be issued after evaluation Prevention of Sea Pollution (Dumping of Waste) h
of all interests at stake, including the
possible damage to the natural habitat;
licenses are granted subject to the
payment of fees;
the term of a license depends on its type
An excavation license from the director Antiquity Law 1978
of Israel Antiquities Authority is
required for antique digging in the sea
Monitoring and Create appropriate mechanisms for
environmental monitoring and observation;
management prepare national information
inventories
Damage responsibility and Promoting accountability
enforcement
a
Coastal waters are defined as “The 12-nautical-mile-wide band of sea along Israel‘s coast”.
Prevention of Sea Pollution (Dumping of Waste) i
Law 1984
Planning and Building Law (licensing) 1965
(Amendment, 2004)
Planning and Building Law (works requiring
permit) 1965 (Amendment, 2011)
Law 1983
Bill - Marine Regions Law 2014
Bill - Marine Regions Law 2014
The Minister of Environmental Protection shall appoint a Permits Committee. (Article 3). The
committee is composed of representatives of six ministries and one environmental nongovernmental
organization.
A permit shall contain, inter alia, instructions on the following: nature and quantity of the material that
may be dumped, method of dumping, location and timing of dumping, etc. (Article 10).
The Committee may include in a permit a requirement to monitor the environmental and health
impacts of the dumping, according to a monitoring plan which the applicant shall undertake in
adherence to the Committee's instructions and with its approval (article 11a).
A report on the execution of dumping, according to Section 4 of the Law, shall be submitted to
the Committee … (Article 12a).
j No person shall do anything within the area of the coastal environment, which requires a permit under
this chapter, except in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule (Article 156b).
k A permit is required to undertake any mining, digging, quarrying and landfilling activities, which
change the form, the stability, or the safety of the land, except digging and extraction works within
maritime boundaries of marinas.
No person shall do anything within the area of the coastal environment, which requires a permit under
this chapter, except in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule (Article 156b).
T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88
c Prospecting or digging of mines without a permit is forbidden (article 3).
The Minister of Development may close certain areas to prospecting or mining (article 7). The bearer
of a certificate of discovery will be granted exclusive mining rights by the Minister of Development for
one year … (Article 40).
The Permits Committee may grant permits to dump waste into the sea in accordance with the
provisions of this Law. [Article 3a(a)].
The Committee may stipulate preconditions for the grant of a permit, which must be fulfilled prior
to the grant of the permit, and it may also set conditions in the permit [Article 3a(b)].
Details in a permit application must include (inter alia) specification and estimate of the environmental
and health impacts predicted as a result of the proposed dumping, including the possible impacts on the
exploitation of animate and inanimate marine resources, performance of scientific research, shipping,
and recreational activities [Article 8 (4)].
While filing an application for a permit, or for renewal of a permit, the applicant shall pay an
application fee in the amount of 13,000 new shekels in a method determined by the comptroller of the
Ministry of Environmental protection. [This amount increases with every increase in the Consumer
Price Index.] (Article 5).
A permit may be general or specific, as detailed hereinafter: A general permit may extend for an
unlimited time; a specific permit shall be granted for a period not exceeding two years (Article 9).
l "Land" includes any part of any sea, lake, river, or other water and the bottom thereof.
(Article 1).
No person shall dig on any land, or otherwise search, for antiquities, …, unless s/he has obtained a
license to do so from the Director (hereinafter referred to as an "excavation license") and in
accordance with the conditions of the license (Article 9a).
Excavation license for the marine environment includes requisitions and conditions for covering
antiquities with sand.
b The aim of the law (inter alia) is to promote marine scientific research [Article 2 (3)]. The law proposes
to set instructions regarding the authority for gathering marine data and the establishment of a data
inventory (Article 39).
b The aim of the law (inter alia) is to promote accountability for damages to marine resources
[Article 1 (8)].
The Minister of Environmental Protection will set instructions for the responsibility and
accountability … to prevent, reduce, treat, and clean environmental damages, and rehabilitate the
damaged environment … (Article 17a).
A minister who is authorized to grant usage rights of marine resources will act to guarantee the
responsibility and accountability of … (see above) (Article 17b). The law defines enforcement
83
authorities (Article 19a).
84 T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88

Table 2
Documents included in the analysis.

Item no. Level Name and no. Year of approval

Working papers
1 National Artificial islands off Israel's coastline: pre-feasibility study 2000
2 Instructions for the preparation of Environmental Impact Assessment. An example from National outline plan no. 13/ 2009
b/2/1/a for the Mediterranean beaches, ports, and marinas: the development of a new container terminal and
extension of the wave breaker at Ashdod Port.
3 Environmental Management Plan. Examples from National outline plan no. 13/b/1/a for sand sources and dredging 2013, 2014
works for the construction of the Bay Port and the Oil Port in Haifa, and from 13/b/2/1/a for the development of a
new container terminal and extension of the wave breaker at Ashdod Port
Policy papers
4 National Beach Sand (Zifzif) Committee report 1964
5 Master Plan for sand mining from terrestrial sources 1999
6 Israeli coastal waters: policy paper 1999
7 Principles for dealing with the collapse of the Mediterranean coastal cliff in Israel: economic, public, and 2010
environmental implications
Local and national outline and detailed plans
8 Local Detailed local plan no. HR/2002/a/1 for wave breakers at Herzlia Marina 1988
9 Detailed local plans no. HR/2002/a/2 and HR/2003/a for Herzlia Marina 1990, 1995
10 Detailed local plan no. 168/02/11 for Ashkelon Marina 1991
11 National National outline plan no. 13/b/2 for ports and marinas, Ashdod Port 2000
12 National outline plan no. 13/b/1/a for Haifa Port, Carmel project, phase 1 2003
13 National outline plan no. 13/b/1/a/1 for Haifa Port, Carmel project: conditions for marine sand mining for the 2006
construction of the terminal
14 National outline plan no. 13/b/1/b for the marine entrance to Haifa Port 2006
15 National outline plan no. 13/3 for Haifa and Tirat Hacarmel beaches 2007
16 National outline plan no. 13/4 for Tel Aviv district beaches and coastal waters 2008
17 National outline plan no. 13/b/2/1 for ports and marinas, the expansion of Ashdod Port 2011
18 National outline plan no. 13/b/1/c for laying down and deepening of the marine entrance tunnel to Haifa Port 2012
19 National outline plan no. 13/b/2/1/a for the Mediterranean beaches, ports and marinas: the development of a new 2013
container terminal and extension of the wave breaker at Ashdod Port
20 Detailed National outline plan no. 13/b/1/1 for marine structures in Haifa Bay: the development of container 2014
terminals in the Bay Port and Carmel B Port
21 National outline plan no. 13/b/1/a for sand sources and dredging works for the construction of the Bay Port and the 2014
Oil Port in Haifa
22 Detailed Coastal Cliff Protection plan no. 13/9/a 2015
23 National outline plan no. 13/6 for Netanya beaches In preparation

One of the possible sources at such a depth is sand buried under silt or 4.2.3. Marine sand consumers
mud. This sand will need to be treated to reduce the silt and clay As is apparent from the documents, the main marine sand consumers are
concentration. government or public authorities, as detailed below:

For all sand sources, the digging depth and conditions are determined by 1) Israel Ports Development Company and port operating compa-niesdfor
detailed plans and excavation permits. construction/expansion of ports and ancillary marine constructions;

2) local municipalitiesdfor beach rehabilitation/expansion, wave breaker

4.2.2. Appropriate uses for marine sand
Several justifiable uses of offshore or coastline marine sand can be
identified in the analyzed documents. The uses can be divided into four
categories, as follows:
1) uses with economic value on condition that they benefit the public, the
environment, and future generationsduse of sand to create bathing
beaches, docks, wave breakers, marinas, power plant cooling ponds,
artificial islands for infrastructure and fa-cilities, and other maritime
infrastructures;
2) preventing sand entrapment, coastal and coastal cliff erosion, and habitat
destructiondartificial nourishment of beaches on the updrift side of coastal
structures for expansion/rehabilita-tion of beaches (beach
expansion/rehabilitation plans will include the entire coastline width and
the adjacent strip of water), and/or prevention/reduction of shoreline
regression as a result of building and/or enlarging constructions;
construction/expansion, marina construction, protection against cliff
erosion, and in the future, for filling artificial islands;
3) Israel Electrical Corporation (IEC)dfor construction/expansion of cooling
ponds;
4) Israel Defense Forces (IDF)dfor building military ports and ancillary
constructions; and
5) Israel Antiquities Authoritydfor covering and protecting sub-marine and
shoreline antiquities.
It should be clarified that, in addition to the aforementioned authorities,
others make use of marine sand in the framework of extraction work, laying
and covering of marine infrastructures, such as intake and outlet pipes of
desalination plants, gas pipes, treated wastewater pipes, communication lines,
etc. In most cases, local sand that was excavated at the site is used and
returned once the work is finished, thus maintaining the sand balance.

3) protecting the coastal cliffdby filling sandbags, sand piles and marine 4.2.4. Regulation
geotubes, and by extending beaches; and The main regulatory demands that were established as in-structions in
4) protecting submarine and shoreline antiquities by covering them with programs dealing with extraction, dumping, and using marine sand include
sand. the following:
 T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88
1) Terms for approval of an outline plan for marine infrastructure:
The analysis shows integration of requirements to prevent and/or
correct any past and/or future morphological and sedimentological
changes caused to the marine environment as part of
construction/expansion of marine infrastructure. The outline plan's
instructions determine the guidelines for approval of the future detailed
plan.
2) Terms for approval of a detailed plan for marine infrastructure: approval
of an environmental impact assessment by a plan-
ning institution;
approval of a subterranean survey of antiquities by the Israel Antiquities
Authority;
inclusion of instructions that will ensure the implementation of
corrective measures concerning sedimentological changes;
inclusion of a marine sand management mechanism;
presentation of a signed contract between the constructing and/or
operating entity and the Ministry of Environmental Protection regarding
the sand management mechanism; and submission of a monitoring plan
prepared in accordance with detailed instructions from the Marine
Environment Protection Division at the Ministry of Environmental
Protection (the
subject of monitoring will be expanded further on).
3) Terms for granting an extraction/dumping permit:
submission of a detailed plan;
approval from the Ministry of Environmental Protection regarding
treatment of the excavated material, including its planned dumping
sites;
a dumping permit request will contain instructions on the following:
nature and quantity of the material that may be dumped, packaging,
methods and precautionary measures of loading, shipping and dumping,
dumping location and timing, sea vehicle's registration details and route,
monitoring pro-gram requirements, submission of various permits and
re-ports to the Marine Environment Division, and publication of the
permit in newspapers;
an extraction permit request will contain, inter alia, bathy-metric charts,
cross-sections, quantity of the extracted mate-rial, specifications of the
extracted material and site, equipment, extraction methods and
measures, excavation dates, and any other information required by the
Permits Committee and the Marine Environment Division;
if the extraction/dumping methods differ from those simu-lated in the
environmental impact assessment, and/or the extraction flow is over
10% higher than in the aforementioned simulation, the permit will be
granted on the condition that an updated extraction/dumping simulation
will be performed, according to which the site-specific mitigating
measures will be determined; and
the extraction/dumping permit will determine instructions for mitigating
negative impact on the marine environment, including the deceleration
or temporary cessation of the mining, if needed.
4) Operation terms:
for marine infrastructure - implementing mitigating measures for
negative impacts; and
for extraction - archeological supervision to locate, document, and
retrieve antiquities.
4.2.5. Environmental monitoring and management
An analysis of the documents shows that a detailed monitoring
85
program is a prerequisite for use, extraction, or dumping of sand in the marine
environment. The main purposes of monitoring pro-grams are: to establish
benchmarks; to assess performance and monitor adherence to agreed
conditions specified in operating licenses; to test impact hypotheses and thus
further understand and improve predictive capability for future extraction
activities; to verify the effectiveness of mitigation measures; to provide early
warning of undesirable change so that corrective measures can be
implemented; and to further the knowledge base relating to the actual effects
of a particular activity.
The content of the Israeli monitoring requirements reflects the
internalization of the unique attributes, the importance and the rarity of
marine sand resources, and consequently - the need for continuous, dynamic,
and adaptive monitoring and management. The requirements also reveal that
monitoring programs should be site appropriate and make provision for the
analysis of both phys-ical and biological parameters. The guidelines derived
from these requirements include the following:
1) a detailed plan will determine guidelines for establishing a monitoring
program, and/or a marine sand resource manage-ment mechanism, and/or
environmental management program;
2) an environmental impact assessment will contain an appendix entitled
“Operation principles for the marine sand management resource”, which
will outline a detailed, multiyear plan for monitoring, collection, and
analysis of physical data from the marine and coastal environment in the
relevant zone;
3) the marine sand management mechanism will determine the goals of sand
extraction/dumping and the context-specific seabed mining measures to
mitigate negative ecological effects;
4) the monitoring will be performed according to a monitoring guide, which
will determine, inter alia: boundaries, sampling locations, parameters,
methods, frequency, timing, and duration of measurements, relevant
benchmark values, report proced-ures, and any other relevant information
that will be required;
5) the Ministry of Environmental Protection will coordinate the
environmental management program and the environmental monitoring
data;
6) in certain projects, the monitoring findings will be reported to the
Territorial Waters Committee, the Ministry of Environ-mental Protection,
the Ministry of Health, and the relevant local municipalities; and
7) the monitoring findings will be used to determine the need, scope, nature
and timing of the seabed mining measures to mitigate negative ecological
effects.
To summarize, the analysis of the planning framework reveals that the
principles which are anchored in the policy and planning documents reflect
both the principles and guidelines of the approved legislative framework and
those of the pending bill for Marine Regions Law (2014), as can be seen in
Table 3. In this sense, the plans that were prepared and approved in recent
years reflect a more advanced perception and understanding, and expand the
scope of protection and management of marine sand resources beyond the
current legislative framework.
4.3. The adherence of the Israeli regulatory framework to UNCLOS and to
protocol on ICZM
The adherence of the principles and guidelines for marine sand extraction,
as they are manifested in each of the legislative, policy and planning
documents, to the key environmental management principles required by
UNCLOS (1982) and by the protocol on ICZM (2008), is presented in Table
3.
86 T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88

Table 3
The adherence of the Israeli regulatory framework to UNCLOS and the protocol on ICZM environmental principles and guidelines.

Management principle/guideline Legislation Item noa Working paper nob Policy paper nob Plan no.b
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982
Prevent, reduce and control pollution, apply a precautionary approach a, b 1e3 5,6 11e22
Gather environmental baseline data b 1e3 4,6,7 8-14, 16-23
Establish programs for monitoring and evaluating the impacts of seabed mining b 1e3 6,7 8-14, 16-23
Include proposals for “impact reference zones” 2e4 4,6 11-15, 18-23
Include proposals for “preservation reference zones” 2e4 4,6 12,13,15,18,20
The Protocol on ICZM, Barcelona Convention, 2008
Ensure the preservation of coastal ecosystems in conformity with the relevant b 6 20
international conventions
Adopt measures to protect and conserve marine and coastal areas with habitats and a, b 1e3 4,6,7 12,13,16-22
species of high conservation value
Define indicators for sustainable development of economic activities b 6
Minimize the use of sand b 1 4e7 10-13, 16e19, 22
Minimize coastal erosion b 1,3 4,6,7 8-13, 18-23
Regulate the extraction of sand b, c, d, e, f 2 4e7 8-14, 16-23
Subject excavation to prior authorization a, b, g, h, j, k, l 2,3 6,7 11-14, 16-23
Subject maritime works and structures to authorization so that their negative impact is b, h, I, h 2,3 4,6,7 8, 10-23
minimized or, where appropriate, compensated by non-financial measures
Conduct preliminary assessments of the risks so as to prevent and reduce their negative b, h 1e3 6,7 12-14, 16-22
impact on coastal zones
Environmental assessments should take into consideration the cumulative impacts b 1e3 7 16e22
Establish and maintain up-to-date assessments of the use and management of coastal b 3 7 8-10, 16-22
zones
Ensure institutional coordination a, b 3 7 8-14, 16-22
Use, strengthen or create appropriate mechanisms for monitoring and observation b 2e4 4,6,7 8-13, 16-22
Prepare and regularly update national inventories of information on resources, b 5,6,7 22
activities, institutions, legislation and planning that may influence coastal zones

a Item number (in letters), as listed in Table 1.

b Document number, as listed in Table 2.

An examination of the adherence of the principles and guide-lines laid
down in the Israeli policy to the key principles of the relevant international
policies shows that most of the policy prin-ciples of UNCLOS and ICZM are
well-established in the Israeli reg-ulatory frameworks.
5. Discussion
During recent decades, Israel's interest in sand mining from the CWMS
for various purposes has increased, particularly as onshore resource deposits
become more difficult to access. In addition to marine sand extraction, there
has been increasing necessity for dumping dredged sand from access canals to
harbors and marinas, and sand accumulations on the updrift side of coastal
structures and in tombolos. The burgeoning demand for these activities
caused a growing concern for the environmental impacts of mining and
dumping activities, which led to the formulation of a regulatory framework
for managing this resource.
The main purpose of this paper was to evaluate the compre-hensiveness
and sustainability of the current regulatory framework governing the
extraction and dumping of marine sand in the shallow waters (up to a depth of
30 m) in the Israeli CWMS. The paper provided a structured overview of the
legislative and plan-ning frameworks, presenting achievements and
inadequacies of the policy, and identifying enabling factors. The paper also
analyzed the way in which two main international policiesdUNCLOS (not yet
ratified by Israel) and the protocol on ICZM (ratified by Israel), which provide
principles and standards for the management of environmental risks
associated with marine mining activities in the Mediterranean Seadare
transposed into local legal procedures and regulatory requirements.
An examination of the development of marine sand regulatory framework,
as reflected in the various documents surveyed, shows that in the last decade
and a half there has been a clear trend of internalization of the required marine
sand resource management
principles and guidelines laid down in the main international conventions.
However, several essential issues have not yet been statutorily anchored.
The current legislative framework defines mostly procedural issues, such
as ownership rights, appropriate uses, administration, and licensing regime.
However, the Bill of Marine Regions Law (2014) proposes a much more
comprehensive and sustainable approach, and reflects an embracement of
most environmental management principles required by the protocol on
ICZM, and of the customary instructions of UNCLOS, including the seabed
min-ing instruction. The bill refers to issues which facilitate the imple-
mentation of this approach, including monitoring, environmental
management, damage responsibility and enforcement.
An examination of the planning framework, which is supposed to express
the approach anchored in legislation, enables general identification of the
marine sand sources, the management and monitoring approach, and the
authorities responsible for moni-toring. In addition, the documents provide a
general conception of the quantities of sand required for specific purposes, of
the permitted marine mining depth, and of a few of the marine sand extraction
sites. The examination also reveals the acceptance of two of the UNCLOS
convention guidelinesdthe inclusion of proposals for “impact reference zones”
and “preservation reference zones”dwhich were not referred to in either the
current or the proposed legislative framework.
Nevertheless, an analysis of the regulatory framework reveals the absence
of a national comprehensive database which continuously gathers relevant
data on marine sand resource. Consequently, marine sand extraction and
dumping permits are granted ad hoc, and monitoring requirements are
determined for each specific context, with a limited outlook of the cumulative
impacts.
As things stand at present, its seems that, alongside ongoing monitoring of
marine sand that should be performed within the framework of each
plan/permit, a national monitoring program
 T. Trop / Ocean & Coastal Management 146 (2017) 77e88
should be prepared. The information gathered through this pro-gram should
be pooled in an up-to-date and standardized national database, which will be
accessible to different public authorities. It seems reasonable to suggest that
such a program and database will become a part of the existing Israeli Marine
Environment Moni-toring Program. This program is carried out by Israel
Oceanographic and Limnological Research, which is a Data Ingestion partner
of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet), un-der
the guidance of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and currently
concentrates mainly on the habitats and the quality of coastal waters. The
suggested all-encompassing monitoring pro-gram and database will provide
an informed basis for sound management decisions regarding marine sand,
including granting excavation/dumping permits and determining impact
mitigation measures. It will also offer and a rigorous scientific base for deter-
mining the specific monitoring requirements for each context. It is also
recommended that the database will be processed according to EMODnet
international standards, to make that valuable informa-tion freely available as
interoperable data layers and data products.
The results also suggest that resource use and environmental costs and
benefits should be evaluated and considered to capture the trade-offs between
sand mining and environment preservation, and to determine the efficient
management paths that maximize social net benefits.
To summarize, current use of marine sand in Israel is usually managed
with one key activity in mind, and an all-encompassing policy has yet to be
formulated. As a result, the impact of cumu-lative effect of these activities is
overlooked, as the “big picture” or total impact is not taken into consideration.
The policy should be adjusted for changes and social/economic developments
as they occur, and should facilitate the response to a wide range of future
scenarios while adhering to a sustainability agenda. The findings discussed
above also reveal the need to develop a national moni-toring program and
database to promote and facilitate the sus-tainable use of Israeli marine sand.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in
the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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