REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsGENEVA, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Around 6 billion tons of marine sand is being dug up each year in a growing practice that a U.N. agency said is unsustainable and can wipe out local marine life irreversibly. The findings from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) coincide with the launch of a new platform 'Marine Sand Watch' backed by funding from the Swiss government that monitors dredging activities using marine tracking and artificial intelligence. "The amount of sand we are withdrawing from the environment is considerable and has a large impact," UNEP's Pascal Peduzzi told a Geneva press briefing. In some cases, companies remove all the sand to the bedrock, meaning that "life may never recover", Peduzzi added. China, the Netherlands, the United States and Belgium are among the countries most active in the sector, he said.

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Persons: Ann Wang, Pascal Peduzzi, Peduzzi, Arnaud Vander Velpen, Emma Farge, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, University of Geneva, Thomson Locations: Taiwan, Swiss, Geneva, China, United States, Netherlands, Belgium