Living Land

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A satellite image showing facilities influenced by shifting sands (1-25) in the Kabd area

Source: National Committee for Combating Desertification in Kuwait (Kuwait National Focal Point, KEPA, 2015)

Classes of drought are:

• very severe: total annual rainfall less than 25 mm (seasons

1963/1964 and 1993/1994)

• severe: 25-50 mm total annual rainfall (seasons

1972/1973, 1976/1977 and 2007/2008)

• moderate: 50-75 mm total annual rainfall (seasons

1966/1967, 1991/1992 and, 2008/2009)

• slight: 75-100 mm total annual rainfall (very common

seasons 1964/1965, 1996/1997).

In Kuwait, current land use is environmentally classified into

three categories. Extremely destructive land use covers 10-12

per cent of Kuwait with damage extending 1-5 m from the

ground surface. Destructive ground use affects about 75 per

cent of the country with damage restricted to 50-75 cm of the

soil. Non-destructive land use, where damage is not observed

and natural recovery prevails, affects 12-15 per cent of Kuwait.

Land degradation processes prevail in the majority of the

terrestrial environment of Kuwait. Three classes of land degra-

dation are identified: almost non-degraded (12-15 per cent),

moderately degraded (75 per cent) and severely degraded

(10-12 per cent). Land degradation processes include soil

salinization and water logging, loss of topsoil (through both

wind and water erosion), soil crusting, sealing and compac-

tion, vegetation degradation and loss of biodiversity. In the

open desert areas (close to 51 per cent of Kuwait), where

livestock grazing is the major land use type, indicators of

soil, vegetation and hydrological degradation as well as loss

of biodiversity are prevailing. In the agricultural areas (about

2.7 per cent of Kuwait), depletion of soil productivity, water

logging and soil salinization are recorded.

The terrestrial environment of Kuwait, especially its central

part (about 60 per cent of the total area), is an open theatre for

extremely active aeolian processes. Wind erosion (soil drift-

ing) is very common in the areas of fragile sandy soils which

cover more than 50 per cent of the land. Soil drifting is a

major cause of land degradation and field measurements indi-

cate that the 2007/2008 dry season (less than 40 mm rainfall)

resulted in severe soil losses through wind erosion. In wide

stretches, winds removed 10-15 cm of topsoil (around 1,000

per hectare).

In the Kabd area (about 35 km south-west of Kuwait

City), hotspots (sites severely attacked by shifting sands)

were recently recorded. These include segments of roads,

water wells, industrial facilities, farms and other infrastruc-

tures. Drifting sands from deflated substrates encroach on

existing facilities.

Hot spots

(Severe sand encroachment)

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and