TL; Dr:
- More than 70%
Kuwat The land of about 11,300 sq km is classified as deteriorating or uninhabited.
- The Environment Public Authority (EPA) is carrying out a national strategy through Vision 2035, which aims to cut the humiliated land by 35-40% by 2040.
- Major efforts include large-SCAsCooperation with international flexibility initiatives such as Le Overnization, Protected Stores, Green Walls, and IWMIS WIQAaya Project.
Another silent crisis, raising the summer temperature as Kuwait: desertation. Experts and environmental bodies have warned that the country’s limited arable land is increasing under pressure due to human activity and climate change. Desertification, the process of fertile land turns into a desert, now threatens more than 80% of Kuwait’s land, as confirmed by the Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from global assessment from the Environment Public Authority (EPA) and the United Nations Convention. According to The Times Kuwait, recent satellite imagery and soil studies indicate deteriorating land deterioration, especially in areas around Kuwait city, Jahra and oil producing areas in the north and west.
What is the reason for this? Major drivers of land fall
The desert in Kuwait is not only due to the condition of the natural desert. Human actions are accelerating damage. EPA’s 2023 Environment Report cites the following major causes:
- Overgrassing: Irregular livestock movement continues the vegetation cover.
- Urban expansion: construction projects, especially in suburban districts, encroachment on natural landscape.
- Off-road driving: Entertaining Desert Driving lowered Topsoid and crushed indigenous flora.
- Climate change: rising temperature and falling rainfall is reducing soil erosion and reducing plant regeneration.
These factors mixed by Kuwait’s already delicate delicate ecosystem have called EPA a “important ecological tension”.
How bad it is? Official data and risk assessment
The decline rate of Kuwait’s land has been declared “serious” in many areas, especially:
- Al-Abdali and Al-Wafra Agricultural Region
- Al-jahra desert circumference
- Southwest boundaries near Saudi-Kuwati neutral region
According to the global land approach of UnCCD, Kuwait is one of the weakest Gulf countries due to its low vegetative density, sand-prone terrain and high dependence on land for oil logistics and defense infrastructure.
Government’s response: what is being done
Kuwait confirmed the UNCCD Treaty in 1997 and since then adopted a National Action Plan (NAP) to combat the desert. Some of the current strategies of the government are included:
- Green belt projects: The Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAFR) is putting drought-tolerant shrubs with highways.
- Reciprocal area: Pilot projects in Wafra and Abdali aim to restore deserted land using the determination of treated waste water and soil.
- awareness campaign: EPA, in partnership with Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), is promoting public education on preserving soil health.
Despite these measures, environmental experts have warned that progress is slow and not quickly enough.
Urgency for action
- To compete with desertification (June 17, 2025), on World Day, EPA confirmed Kuwait’s target to reduce the land fallen by 2040 by 35–40%. It is part of its broad national land decline neutral strategy supported by Vision 2035.
- Monitoring systems such as Andisc and Beetona collect real-time land health data to help track restoration policy and track desertification.
- The Kuwait regional land also supports the Middle East Green initiative to combat the regional land fall.
While Kuwait Vision 2035 focuses on economic diversification and urban modernization, environmental stability is one of its seven strategic columns. However, climate advocates argue that land management programs require strong enforcement mechanisms and community participation to be effective. Desertification is no longer a distant environmental concern, it is an immediate national challenge that touches every aspect of Kuwait’s future, from agriculture and public health to urban planning and climate flexibility. While Kuwait has technical capacity and institutional structures to deal with the decline of land, the speed of implementation must now match the urgency of danger. Beyond government action, cross-sector cooperation will be important. Private sector investment in permanent landscaping, educational institutions conducting soil research, and civil society movement for protection can collectively tip the balance. Seriously, Kuwait should also be in the mainstream of environmental education and implement strong rules around the misuse of land. With the worst heat of summer in August, symptoms of ecological stress are all around. Kuwait now stands at an intersection, either to show its landscape more under human and climate pressures, or to resume its development around long -term environmental flexibility. The need for Kuwait is a decisive national change that considers land restoration not as a side policy, but as a central column of its existence and development strategy.
