By Dr Sarah Venter

50 baobabs saved in Limpokwena

Limpokwena is a game reserve situated between the Limpopo and Mogalakwena Rivers near Platjan boarder post.  The property has about 50 small baobab trees which are being badly damaged and killed by elephants that are coming over the border from Botswana.   A field trip and site inspection in April confirmed that the manager can mesh the trees but needs support [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Teaching kids about baobabs

Tshokotshoko Primary School A talk on the ecology of baobabs was given at Tshokotshoko Primary School which was attended by the Grade 6 and Grade 7 pupils.  Each pupil was given the Tshivenda version of  “Little Big Baobab Book”. Tshokotshoko Primary School is a small school, situated in a very remote part of Niyani (northern Limpopo) and is surrounded by [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Preschools receive toy boxes

Tshokotshoko village lies in a very remote part of the baobab area north of the Soutpansberg mountains.  The village is small and the Preschool supports the early education of the little children of the village.  Many of the children do not have toys to play with at home so the one place that they are able to learn to play [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

After good rain wild Planted baobabs need to survive overgrowth

Wild planted baobab trees at Nthakeni were assessed with the help of Nathan Clemes and Amber Numamoto from Unrooted in the UK.  We found that the high rainfall had caused a lot of vegetation growth around the seedlings which were suffocating the plants.  The plants were left as they were so that we can learn how young seedlings grow and [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Glender Kwilimba does honors project on baobab planting program

Glender Kwilimba is an honors student at the University of Venda.  Her honors project is to assess the success of the Baobab Guardians project.  The Baobab Foundation has sponsored her field work which she conducted in May 2025.  Dr Sarah Venter will be co-supervising her project with Prof. Swanepoel from the University of Venda.  Glender interviewed 57 Baobab Guardians and [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Working with the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT)

Sarah Venter spent a few days in the field with John Davies from the Endangered Wildlife Trust working together on a vulture conservation and tree meshing project along the Western Limpopo River.  The collaborative project will help protect vulnerable bird species such as Pels Fishing Owls and White Backed Vultures and protect the integrity of the riverine forest along the [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Paint to brighten Denzhe PreSchool

During heavy rain and high winds the roof of Denzhe PreSchool was blown off.  With the help of local businesses the roof was repaired, but no paint was provided to touch up the freshly plastered walls.  The Baobab Foundation provided paint in all the different colours to get the Preschool back to the way its meant to look.
By Dr Sarah Venter

Baobabs featuring at the Savanna Science Network Meeting

Steven Khosa (SANParks) and Dr Sarah Venter did an evaluation of meshing baobab trees for the last 12 month period.  The findings were presented at the Savanna Science Network Meeting in Skukuza in the Kruger National Park in April 2025.  The data showed that Elephants were present 97% of the time in areas with meshed trees, compared to 94% in [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

African Baobab Alliance – Global Baobab Congress 2025

Dr Sarah Venter visited Senegal to attend at the African Baobab Alliance Global Baobab Congress 2025 and the Pan African Access and Benefit Sharing Conference.  At both conferences Dr Sarah Venter made presentations about the conservation and management of baobabs across Africa.  Field trips were done to see the baobabs in Senegal and some of the local processing of baobab [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

1-Year assessment of wild planted baobabs at Nthakeni

The 51 baobab trees were planted one year ago along the Drongo and Baobab Trails at Nthakeni Camp. These trees were assessed this February by Fumihiko Ayoagi and Hiroyuki Ogata from Tokyo, Japan. We found that all the trees had established well and had put on some growth. A few of the trees had been eaten by baboons and one [...] Continue Reading