Namibia has granted environmental clearance for the Sandpiper Project, paving the way for the world’s first commercial seabed-dredging operation to extract phosphate. The project will see Namibian Marine Phosphate dredge deposits of phosphate, a key fertilizer ingredient, about 120 kilometers offshore from Walvis Bay. The company proposes dredging about 1.7 square kilometers annually to produce three million tons of phosphate concentrate. Critics warn that dredging could release heavy metals and toxic materials trapped in the seabed, threatening marine ecosystems and Namibia’s commercial fishing industry. Marine scientists and environmental groups have called the plan risky and unproven, noting no other country has pursued offshore phosphate mining at this scale. The project, majority-owned by an Oman-based mining company, was first licensed in 2011 but stalled for over a decade amid environmental concerns.