Causes and consequences of desertification in Kuwait: a case study of land degradation

Desertification in Kuwait is a process of environmental degradation under fragile ecological conditions and intensive human activities and the consequences of Gulf War. In Kuwait, very severe desertification prevails, due to increasing formation of new active sandy bodies, deterioration of many areas of natural vegetation cover to less than 10%, and limited water resources for large-scale forage production. Average annual desertified land in Kuwait is estimated to be 285 km2. In Kuwait, three indicators of land degradation are encountered. These are vegetation, soil, and surface hydrological changes. Based on field measurements of soil compaction and vegetation changes, in the west Jahra area in the northern part of the country, degradation levels were assessed. Results of these measurements show that the average infiltration rate in compacted soil decreased by 53.8% in comparison with non-compacted soil, while the average soil penetration resistance in compacted soil increased by 154.1% in comparison with non-compacted soil. The bulk density in open sites was 23.4% higher than that in protected sites. The percentage of litter in open sites decreased by 77.3% in comparison with protected sites, while the percentage of total vegetation in open sites decreased by 6.1% in comparison with protected sites.