Genetic information is a treasure that we can ill afford to lose, says Jose Kaitharath, a scientist at Faisaliya Farm, Wafra. He exudes a proselyte’s zeal for the conservation of Kuwait’s biodiversity. With the passion of an archeologist who has stumbled upon an ancient library of invaluable books, Jose is almost beside himself talking about the richness of Kuwait’s plant species, more than fifty percent of which we have already lost to our oil ambitions and concomitant urbanization. There are more than 35 species of native plants that are extant today, and Jose feels these have to be not just preserved but allowed to flourish on a scale that would put it safely away from the threat of extinction.
Question: Kuwait’s oil industry has flourished at the expense of the environment which is a matter of course if you consider the starting stages of any industrialized nation. Where are we headed environmentally as of today?
Answer: Now, companies are increasingly giving more importance to the conservation of ecosystems, especially the oil companies. KOC has launched a new project, in which an Indian company, The Energy Research Institute (TERI), is also involved.
The hydrocarbon pollution following the Iraqi invasion, when oil-well infernos resulted in thick layers of tar, up to a foot thick, choked up the soil.
TERI deals with unique bacteria to rehabilitate the soil. The bacteria consume the hydrocarbons and excrete a substance that makes the soil fertile. This is a very organic process of rehabilitating the soil.

Q: Is this a time taking process?
A: Not at all. Bacteria multiply extremely rapidly, and cover huge swaths of land in no time. Moreover, this process is not very costly.
Q: Where does Faisaliya Farm fit into this picture?
A: We provide the plants that will be needed once the soil rehabilitation is complete. In Kuwait, we are the only company to have the seeds of all the native varieties of plants. There are about 35 native species of plants belonging to Kuwait. We have them all, and we are the sole company with such a rich collection of plants and seeds. Even the ministries depend on us.
At our farm, Faisaliya in Wafra, we collect seeds, process and store them. We germinate these seeds and sow them back in the field; thus we keep the process continuing in a loop. When anybody needs seeds to cultivate in an area that is conducive to growing plants, we provide them the seeds.
Q: You said you have about 35 species of plants. Is that all that Kuwait naturally has, or have we lost any species?
A: We have lost a lot of species.
Q: How many have we lost?
A: There is really no estimate on that. We have lost many, many species. We have lost more than 50 percent of the area that was under vegetation, and this area could have had so many rare species of plants.
Q: What are the reasons for this depletion of vegetation?
A: Oil sector is an important reason. Acres of vegetation are destroyed for the exploration and extraction of oil. Another reason is over-grazing. Grazing is necessary in the desert, for the cattle to thrive. However, with the advent of riches, people acquired huge flocks of sheep requiring vast tracts of pastures for grazing.
About a hundred sheep for a hectare of land is normal. That would be balanced. But with overgrazing, vegetation that evolved over a hundred years is destroyed in an hour. This leads to imbalance and permanent loss of vegetation.
Camping in deserts is another cause for the depletion of the vegetation. People dump wastes and plastic material that choke the soil and render it untenable for plants to grow.
Q: You said oil sector is also a major reason for the destruction of biodiversity. But oil is a very important commodity. What then do you suggest is a solution to the problem? How can you acquire oil, and yet not destroy the environment?
A: There are global standards for this. When you are destroying vegetation in a particular place for the sake of oil, you have to makeup for the loss by the forestation of another area.
Q: So, the green initiatives in Ahmadi undertaken by KOC must be part of this process of forestation.
A: Yes, but what they are doing is not enough. It does not even make up for a small percent of the destruction of vegetation in areas of oil reserves. However, there is a greater awareness on sustainability, and there is a greater will on their part.
In fact, UN has bylaws that stress on green buffer zones in every oil industrial area. Because the pollution caused by hydrocarbons is very heavy, and there must be some means to absorb all the carbon. The only way to do that is to have plants.
According to the UN, for every hectare of land used up for extracting oil, ten hectares of land should be rehabilitated elsewhere. Now the ratio must have gone up further.
Q: Your company is limited only to the supply of plants, is it?
A: So far yes, but then we are looking at moving into contracting also. Because most of the contracting companies are landscaping companies, who do not fully appreciate the variety of our native species of plants. So, they are not very knowledgeable about growing some of the plants.
There are many techniques involved in not just growing plants but also treating the soil. For example, in areas where the soil is hard, there is a simple process of gashing the earth at different locations. These gashes catch humidity and soften up allowing seeds to germinate.
There is a lot that can be done. In fact, there has been a UN-backed project that was tabled in 2006 for the rehabilitation of Kuwait’s desert using the money obtained as compensation for Iraqi invasion. But the project is entangled in red tape.
Q: When you are talking of Kuwait’s biodiversity, animals are also part of it. Tell us something about Kuwait’s fauna.
A: Kuwait had a lot of unique animals that could thrive in the shrubby vegetation found here. I have heard people from the previous generation talk about these shrubs that used to be spread out like a carpet in the desert. There were foxes and a peculiar sand-colored lizard, close to an Iguana. But these are not to be seen around now. They are on the verge of extinction.
These animals are well adapted to live in the harsh climates of Kuwait, and they make good use of the limited resources available. One peculiar thing about Kuwait’s soil is that it is very cool in summer, and warm in winter. So, the animals trench themselves in the soil, when the weather is at the extreme ends.
There is a particular species of tree called Talha, which is unique to Kuwait. There are only four or five such trees in Kuwait now. They are well protected. During the Iraqi invasion, one of these trees was bombed. It split down the middle. However, these being hardy trees, it withstood the attack and survived. It still survives.
There is a National Park in Subbiya. That’s where this tree stands.
Q: These species of plants and animals in Kuwait, many of which are on the verge of extinction… are these exclusive to Kuwait?
A: The thing to note here is that Kuwait is a very peculiar place in terms of climate. If you analyze, Kuwait is a very small place, but the climate here is nothing like what you see in the surrounding areas. It’s different. It’s the hottest place in the region. Do you know that in summer, the temperature in Abdally touches 70 degrees centigrade. We have measured the temperature there. It’s the hottest place in the world for any inhabited area.
Therefore, the plants that grow here are also genetically unique, because they have been designed to suit these conditions. They are a genetic rarity. These plants are a treasure trove of genetic material. We cannot afford to lose them.
Many medicines that we use today are coming from plants. The plants carry the information for the cure of many diseases. For example, if we had lost some species of plants in India, we wouldn’t be having many drugs used in the treatment of cancer. So, we don’t know what we are losing when we destroy certain species of plants to extinction.
If you realize this truth, you will know that these genes are a million times more valuable than oil. It is true that oil has commercial value in today’s world, but in these species of plants is a wealth of information which if we lose we have no way of getting them back.
Secondly, they may look like dry brush to you. But they have such a bearing on the climate. For example, a particular area in Sulaibiya is never hit by dust storm; the reason for that is the shrubbery that grows there. These shrubs arrest the dust particles from rising up as the wind attempts to pick them up. They act as natural filters, keeping the air clean of dust.
One of the main reasons for the increase in dust storms in Kuwait is the decimation of shrubs.
Q: You told us about the wealth of genetic information in these plants. Can you tell us about the salient features of these plants that help them survive in this climate?
A: These plants have a variety of morphological features that make them unique. Take for example, Arfaj, a native shrub. In summer they are as good as dead. There would only be stems, dry as bone. Come spring, and they sprout leaves and begin to bloom.
It is amazing the way they store water. These stems would be dry on the outside. But if you break them, you will find water within. They are very good at conserving water. This is the water they get during the single spell of rainfall in a year. That’s good enough for them to last an entire year.
Q: What about their roots? Are they fibrous or taproots?
A: They are taproots, but they don’t grow deep, rather they spread out near the surface. Whereas, Talha which belongs to the Acacia family grows its roots deep into the soil. It finds water from aquifers, deep underground.
You might have heard of the Tree of Life in Bahrain that is more than a hundred and fifty years old. It is a lonely tree in the middle of the desert with no trace of greenery around. It is almost a miracle, and is very huge with a trunk so thick it will require more than two pairs of arms to hug it.
These are great treasures for mankind. We have to conserve them.
Q: What can we do to conserve this natural wealth?
A: As I said, firstly we have to know that conservation of genetic diversity is more than a mere fancy of a few geeks. The genetic information in these species will carry the secret code to solve much of mankind’s problems.
To conserve them, we have to give the pursuit of conserving these genes a commercial viability. That’s most important. It is futile to preach to people without giving them a clear idea about the incentives.
Without commercialization, this would merely remain a lip service that people would pay, but there wouldn’t be any real progress. You will only have a handful of activists raising slogans on a particular day of the year, and it will be forgotten after that.
Secondly, we have to have tougher regulations to encourage rehabilitation of vegetation. We can’t reverse urbanization. Buildings, roads and oil production are all part and parcel of modern living. But we can achieve all these by maintaining a balance. For example, the medians in the middle of roads are an excellent opportunity for conservation. Similarly, the buffer zones in oil reserve areas.
Q: Landscaping is emerging as an important commercial activity now. That is a positive sign, isn’t it?
A: It shows the growing importance that companies and the authorities have started giving to environment. However, this is being pursued without much foresight, because what we find is that a particular variety of tree, Conocarpus, is almost used ubiquitously in Kuwait for landscaping. This tree has come to dominate the landscape of Kuwait. But the tree is actually harmful to the ecosystem. However, it is commercially viable because it is perennial and remains green throughout the year. You just need to feed it water, and it thrives on.
Q: Why is Conocarpus harmful to the ecology?
A: It is a very selfish tree in that it monopolizes the resources and disallows other plants to survive in its vicinity. It’s a thirsty plant, and sucks the soil dry, not leaving any for other plants. As a result, when they thrive well, it means that a lot of other species of plants are pushed out of survival.
This is bad for the ecology. Every plant is unique in many respects, and has a chain of symbiotic relationships thriving around it. When you have one particular tree dominating at the expense of other trees, you are hurting a whole lot of other chains of life forms.
Unfortunately that’s what’s happening in Kuwait. Everyone seems to be in a rush to see the environment bloom, and is planting Conocarpus trees, as it grows fast and stays green throughout. Look around you, Conocarpus trees are everywhere. Even those pruned fences you find in most villas and public institutions belong to this variety. At the surface they give a good impression. They are richly green, and create an aura of fertility. But they do a lot of harm on the quiet.
In our farm in Wafra, we have a variety of species of native plants growing together, sharing space and the resources available. It would be surprising to see the many different insects, birds and other life forms that subsist through a beautiful relationship of give and take. You have birds nesting in plants at ground level. We have a lot of visitors coming to enjoy these sights.
Other countries in the region I feel, are a bit more wary of growing Conocarpus. When I went to Dubai, I was surprised to notice that their landscaping had very few of these trees. They seem to be using more of their native plants that enrich the ecology.
Q: Do Conocarpus trees have any other commercial advantage other than the fact that they are perennial?
A: They only require water and nothing else. The nature of the soil is no problem for them. Water is not a costly affair here, thanks to the treatment plants. Secondly, they have a cent percent success chance. If you plant a hundred Concarpus trees, all of them are sure to thrive. Whereas, other plants only have an average of 10 percent success chance. So, you end up losing 90 trees, if you planted 100. This is a definite commercial advantage that Conocarpus trees have when you look at it from the point of view of landscaping companies.
Conocarpus trees are not native to Kuwait. They have come from outside. Moreover, they grow very rapidly. That’s an added attraction in this fast paced world. People don’t have patience to wait. It’s the age of instant mixes, and they expect the same from the environment.

biography
Jose Kaitharath is a botanist working as a researcher in Faisalya Farm in Wafra. He did his PhD in Botany in India. His research was on Methodology to Improve the Quality of Spices done for the Spices Board. He enjoyed the support of the Spices Board after his initial thesis to continue his research focusing on four varieties of spices.
Jose earned a scholarship from the prestigious Council of Scientific Industrial Research in India for research purposes. When he came to Kuwait, he joined Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) as Assistant Research Scientist, where his senior scientist aroused his interest in the study of Kuwait’s native plants. In KISR, Jose was involved in many projects to rehabilitate damaged ecosystems. The team had a lot of work because of the dreadful aftermath of Iraqi invasion.
Jose is dedicated to the cause of reviving the rich biodiversity of Kuwait, which he claims has very valuable genetic material, unique in the world.