There are a few beautiful strips of beach I ride my bike next to on the Gulf Road that are filled with trees that provide nice visual greenery as well as shade in the summer for beachgoers. Whenever I ride my bike past those areas I think about how pretty it is and how it doesn’t look like Kuwait which is one of the best compliments you can give something here FYI.
Yesterday I found out that they’ve started removing the trees on the beaches! Sorry, I shouldn’t say removed since you might think they were relocated somewhere else, instead the proper word I should be using is bulldozed. They bulldozed the strips of the beach with the trees and killed everything.
The video above shows how those beaches looked like before they were demolished just to give you an idea of how pretty they were. Why does Kuwait hate trees so much? It’s really upsetting, I’m trying to care less and less about Kuwait but it’s not easy to do especially when I’ve spent the past 40 years caring about this place.
43 replies on “Kuwait & Trees”
So messed up. I don’t know why Kuwait loves to waste resources without a second thought. Those trees cost money and spent so many years growing and ultimately beautifying this hellscape. Only to be broken up all Taliban style. If you’re gonna cut em down, may as well do it properly and salvage the wood at least??
Come on… I think a Starbucks at that location will look so cool, we need one badly!
/sarcasm
😔
Typical moronic thinking , PTSD from being stung by bees while being in the sahde of said type of trees, It no give no dates so it aint a tree, Kuwait is a desert so only shrubs and thorny bushes allowed ( Moronic mentality ), Trees are big weeds, the tree is encroaching on public ground?? Take a pick. Who knows what goes on in the minds of who ever is in charge and why they go after trees that have grown naturally in this environment over the last half a century or so.
Ironically though on weekends you can find the nurseries at Rai splitting at the seams with crowds of people wanting to buy plants and date palms funny huh
Thanks Mark for bringing this matter up. Really we don’t know what the **** is happening in Kuwait!!! We need people in charge to explain the chaos we are living in recently. They’re destroying the country 🙁
It’s a sad sight to see, committed by those who are supposed to protect these trees. I don’t get how they ask people to take care of the trees & plant trees in the desert when the municipality commits such a catastrophe!!
The same here in Subah Al-Salim block1. Just like, you I care less and less.
Anyway, I reported it to Baladia via WhatsApp hopefully they can do something.
Baladia is the one cutting down these threes 😀 Please don’t report any threes related business to them and don’t give them any new ideas
Everything going on in Kuwait right now, makes it seem like we are in one big episode of The Twilight Zone, with no ending
Now ways!! Where is EPA????
Mark, the last sentence really hit home with me and is a genuine reflection of the people who have been here a really long time.
For me, the trees and the old things, remind me of the old kuwait which was genuine and real and such a great place to be.
I continue to hope that things turn for the better in Kuwait, especially for the young folks.
It’s a damn tree…. LOL are you for real? at the end of the day, if you’re not Kuwaiti i don’t understand why you would willingly spend 40 years in a country you clearly hate (“it doesn’t look like kuwait, that’s the best compliment you can give any place here”). We kuwaitis don’t need these types of offensive comments during our National Holidays (February). We don’t need 24/7 bashing and criticism from all sides. The female minister of the municipality Rana Al Fares has her reasons for removing the tree. You criticize kuwait for every little slight thing. WTF this is just so NOT normal. Give it a rest. Do you think other governments around the world don’t remove invasive trees that damage infrastructure??? If this any other government, we wouldn’t have these insulting offensive comments about the whole country. Why the double standards??? If you don’t like the country, get out but don’t insult its people for no apparent reason other than some trees…. WTF is wrong with you people
This is just odd. If you hate the country so much, why are you still here after 40 years??? Money???
“Why kuwait does hate trees” kuwait does not hate trees, kuwait is a country and land, not an individual person. Wtf this post is just weird, very off-putting.
Marzouq Al Ghanim recently met the small business owners to help air their grievances. We have people working with civil society organizations. It’s our country we don’t need these offensive 24/7 bashing and criticism. If you don’t like it, just GET OUT and go anywhere else on the planet. There are hundreds and hundreds of countries in the world.
Since I’ve been here longer than you maybe you should get out and go somewhere else.
Kindly STFU!
WTF does being an expat have to do with complaining about tree removal?? Kuwaitis of all backgrounds are equally outraged at this environmental crime, are you gonna tell us to leave Kuwait too?? Grow up!
If indeed they are removed to protect infrastructure then the ministry in charge should inform the public!
I’m kuwaiti and anybody that grew up here in the past 40 or 50 years (at least before the invasion) understands just how bad it’s getting..Even the younger gen is getting anxious at the future.
If things keep going the way they are then in the next 50-100 years or so most ppl will GTFO of this place bc it will be used up and borderline uninhabitable due to all the awful mismanagement of resources and short-sighted rules and regulations.
Kuwaiti here. How is a tree – on a BEACH – “damaging infrastructure”? It’s on a beach. You sound ridiculous, not to mention butt-hurt. Shyab Marzoug Al-Ghanim al7een? We’re talking about removing trees on a beach and you’re talking about “airing grievances”. This is a country, not Festivus. Go back under your rock.
spotted the butthurt kuwaiti. just the standard, “hurr durr, how dare you complain about this one thing, you should just leave!” shut the fuck up
Does anyone know if souq mubarakiya is open?
why would it be closed? it’s not a hair salon or gym.
you like my name?
No preference.
is this better?
The tree being uprooted in the above videos are of the Conocarpus family, The Conocarpus lancifolius, or Damas tree, is fast-growing and tolerant of heat, drought and salt, making it a perfect landscape tree and shrub for the UAE. Native to the coastal and riverine areas of Somalia, Djibouti and Yemen, the tree is also found throughout the Horn of Africa and South Asia.
It grows super fast if watered and even if not, Yes Kuwait are in need of many more trees which will definitely improve the air quality as well as climate around the country, however the Conocarpus trees are notoriously famous for horizontal growth of roots which can damage infrastructure if any around, perhaps that is why they are bulldozing it?
Say No to Littering,
Plant more trees
and FFS be nice to each other.
Well, the trees are growing in the middle of the beach so doubt they’re damaging any infrastructure. But, lets say that one tree is in fact damaging the infrastructure, do you go and destroy ALL the trees all along the different parts of the coastline? Or do you just remove that one tree that’s causing the issues?
I can confirm that they are conocarpus and are on the PAAAFR and EPA (and MOC, MPW and MEW) hitlist due to their damaging underground services. Conocarpus used to be part of most new landscape designs approved by PAAAFR but due to damaging ducting, drainage and cables are now prohibited.
However, surely common sense has to apply in their removal. I get it if causing damage to existing services, but on a beach…? Scandalous, but not sadly not surprising that logic has not been applied regards their removal
The ‘conventional’ logic as is applied to everything else in Kuwait might be at play here.
For some reason the Govt. here does not realize the impact of trees on climate, and the people who go camping for some reason might have assumed that the cleaning company workers would come after and clean up after they leave their trash.
I think there needs to be more awareness, The EPA needs to do carry out campaigns to educate people of their doings and the impact is has.
Now that you’re in your Hot 40s, can we start calling you a Silver Fox?
not sure if that makes me feel old or good
Considering that all the beautiful men are in their 40s and 50s, you should feel great.
Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe and John Stamos are all approaching 60.
jeez Rob Lowe doesn’t age
Wrong! He ages like fine wine.
Note: The fact that we both know who Rob Lowe is means that we’re both old.
If you listen carefully, you can hear a slight and forlorn whimper emanating from this oxygenating lifeforce as its soul was literally ripped from its foundations.
People living in the desert thinks having a Tree is a SIN !!
The roots of this type of tree arr very invasive like someone above mentioned. The roots will crawl towards drainage pipes and little by little either cause blockage by growing into the cracks in pipes or cause cracks.
Are you describing the tree, or the prevailing level of pig-headed stupidity in Kuwait!
The tree is invasive. Get over it. Do you think the Western government tolerate invasive trees that damage infrastructure????????????????
First of all, that’s a lot of “invasive” trees in one area. How many years of growth do those have on them. And, we just now decided they’re “invasive”.
Puh-leeeez.
Second, there’s no infrastructure that’s being damaged.
Third, removing plants of any kind from a beach promotes erosion.
Fourth, if I thought this was an environmentally-driven decision that was reflected in OTHER environmentally-driven decisions, I would think otherwise. It’s not. It’s an example of the short-sightedness of this government. Look on every street and in every empty lot and park in Kuwait and you’ll see that.
You know what’s invasive? all the garbage that’s polluting the desert
I really can’t understand the logic behind some of these backward decisions…
invasive roots? Put an underground shield around the base
Allergies? Trim them up into smaller sizes
At the very least relocate them!
yeah that reminds me, i also miss the free trade zone bc it felt like entering a different country. It’s really sad driving around there now. what a waste, like most of the beauty and charm of this country forcefully removed as usual.
Maybe they are clearing land or view for another profitable commercial heritage site like mcdunalds or burgarking. Kuwait collected trillions of ‘future generation fund’ but I think its all BS as they demolish everything that doesn’t bring immediate cash.
I knew from late 90s that Kuwait is doomed in a long run but things are dwindling so fast that I expect to see Kuwait in a list between Palestine and Somalia by 2030s.
I remember when they decided that the grass on the Gulf road was “invasive and damaging infrastructure” and replaced it with a green carpet. Actually, no, it was all about the money and contracts
This post is a stark reminder of how a lot of people tend to miss the wood for the trees cue the irrelevant comments, being lashed out fast & furious. It is sad to see trees disappear period especially when a little shade outdoors is considered a luxury in Kuwait. It was wishful thinking on my part to think that the Abu Dhabi-fication of Kuwait is / was an altogether reasonable & fair ask. Guess, the ground reality could not be farther from this expectation.