Deserts in Saudi Arabia have started turning green in recent times due to heavy rainfalls! Initially, the local residents were shocked to see a vast piece of land covered with green grasses and plants with small flowers in the middle of the desert. Many have claimed that nature is indeed quite powerful. Apart from bringing comfort to eyes, this piece of green land in the middle of the desert has also changed the ecosystem of the entire region. Cattles are now grazing in the desert!

There have been a lot of rainfalls in the desert lately. Hence, a part of the desert between Mecca and Medina has become green, with grasses growing on barren land in the western part of Saudi Arabia. According to experts, heavy rainfalls are the reason for this, as rainwater makes the soil wet and that is why the plants grow.

Many have posted images of this piece of green land on social media, showing camels grazing in the area covered with grasses. A NASA satellite, too, has captured this image. These greeneries in the midst of rough dry land are eye-catching. Some social media users have expressed desire to live in tents there, while others have advised the Saudi authorities to build resorts. A section of social media users has claimed that the desert has become green with the blessings of the Muslim clerics who had predicted such a change centuries ago!

This particular region in western part of Saudi Arabia has become green since the end of 2023. In addition to the western part of the Kingdom, heavy rains occurred in Al-Jawf, Hail and Al Qassim near the northern border of the West Asian nation in November 2023. Experts believe that Climate Change plays an important role due to which the Saudi desert has repeatedly become wet in recent times. These regions experienced heavy rainfalls also in January 2024.

The Saudi administration has already implemented various projects to increase the greenery. They are trying hard to reduce the area of deserts by planting more trees that could survive in dry weather conditions. As per a plan adopted in 2021, the concerned authorities shall plant 450 million trees in that region by the end of 2030.

Also, efforts are being made to conserve forest land. Saudi Arabia has 2.7 million hectares of forest land. Various measures have been taken to prevent them from being swallowed up by the desert. The Saudi authorities have further decided to protect 15 areas for their biodiversity. Of them, 12 are on land and three are under the sea. At a time when the Saudi administration is making a serious effort to increase the area of forests, oases have been created in the middle of the desert!

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das