Earth Sciences Association: Doubling efforts to preserve plant and fungal diversity in the country
The Kuwait Society for Earth Sciences has stressed the need to double efforts to preserve and protect the country’s plant and fungal diversity from overgrazing, unregulated camping, and other human activities.
Speaking to KUNA on the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (observed annually on July 12), Dr. Mubarak Al-Hajeri, Chairman of the Society’s Board of Directors, said that the United Nations established this day each year to raise awareness of the severity of this environmental phenomenon and its devastating impact on human health, agriculture, and the global economy.
Al-Hajeri added that the objective of commemorating this day is to emphasize the adoption of global and regional preventive measures, including improving weather and climate forecasting systems to monitor storms before they occur, and supporting afforestation and land rehabilitation projects, such as green belts, to stabilize soil.
He clarified that government entities in the country, led by the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, are working to enhance plant and fungal diversity and to cooperate with one another to mitigate harmful effects on the environment and human health.
He noted that Kuwait boasts a unique plant biodiversity despite its desert nature, pointing out that the Kuwaiti environment hosts approximately 385 plant species.
He explained that the plant cover includes around 270 annual species that appear in winter and spring and disappear in summer, as well as about 115 perennial species that withstand severe drought. He noted that this distribution is influenced by soil and topographical conditions between the northern and southern parts of the country.
Al-Hajeri added that plants in the north, characterized by stony environments and wadis, grow in more cohesive soil and areas that collect rainwater, such as wadis and depressions. In contrast, plants in the south grow in sandy environments, sabkhas, and loose, soft sandy soils, with the most prominent being the Arfaj (Artemisia herba-alba), which is the official national flower of the country.
He mentioned that annual plants grow in spring following winter rains, transforming Kuwait’s northern and southern deserts into a flourishing green carpet.
