ABSTRACT:

The study examined the awareness of the environmental impact of sand mining by the respondents and itsattendant soil loss in Chibiri, Kuje area council, FCT Abuja. Questionnaires were administered to 400respondents who were randomly selected in the study area to elucidate their understanding on theenvironment impact of soil mining. The depth, width and length of the mining pit was measured usingtapes to estimate the volume of soil loss over a period of seven days. The result showed 85% of therespondents were males and were actively engaged in mining activities. Most of the respondents (82%)were aware of the negative impact of mining activities. Impacts reported by the respondents were thus;land alteration (45%), ecosystem disturbance (25%), soil erosion (20%) and loss of vegetation (10%). Thedimensions of the mining pit increased from day one to day seven. Consequently, the volume of sandmined area also increased from 1,244.70 m3 in day one to 2,565.10m3 in day seven. The study concludedthat sand mining should be properly monitored by the government with policies enforced to curtail itsnegative impacts and the attendant soil loss.