By Dr Sarah Venter

Do baobab trees matter?

Liam Taylor (MSc candidate) investigates the ecological consequences of elephant-induced tree mortality on bird communities. Liam Taylor is an all-round naturalist, who takes identification of everything he sees seriously.  From insects to reptiles and mammals to trees, but his passion is birds.  He is one of those birders who the moment a bird tweets or flies past everything else is [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Let’s save the baobabs

Thanks to donations from Skoon Skincare (South Africa), Dr Jackson Skincare (UK), Lather (USA) and BaoMed (Netherlands) the Baobab Foundation has managed to raise enough funds to protect another fifty baobab trees. In October (2023) Mphadeni Nthangeni (Park Manager), Steven Khosa (SanParks Ecologist), the Honorary Rangers (Mapungubwe Cluster) and Sarah Venter (Baobab Foundation) will be starting this daunting task. There [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Green Defenders

The Green Defenders are local community action group headed by Thuso Mukoma of Mukomawabane Village in northern Limpopo. The group solves environmental problems such as erosion and pollution around their village and then get together to take action.  Their activities include tree planting, monitoring illegal harvesting of fuel wood and building gabions.  Their efforts are important to the environment in [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Big Bite Tree Collapses (Video 4)

Big Bite Tree Collapses (Video 4) I visited this tree in November 2022 (Video 1 in this series), less than seven months later this tree collapsed and died.  It was a tragic sight and has emphasised the urgent need for the protection of baobabs from elephant damage in this forgotten park.
By Dr Sarah Venter

Livhuwani’s baobab tree

Livhuwani tells us about her tree (Video) Livhuwani Nelitshindwi planted her tree 6 years ago as part of the Baobab Guardians project.  The project started in 2014 encouraged people in rural villages to plant and protect baobab seedlings from being browsed by domestic animals.  When trees reach 3 meters high they are then safe from browsers and can continue to […] Continue Reading

By Dr Sarah Venter

Denzhe Pre-school supports the community

“Each year there is more demand for the Preschool” says Principal Munzhelele “as the community grows so do the needs of the community”. In 2019 when the school was first opened by the Baobab Foundation, the school only have a handful of children.  "We are expecting a greater intake of children next year and we need to prepare for this in [...] Continue Reading
Conservation Baobabs in stamps Botswana, Baobab Foundation
By Elthea Schlesinger

SA Bao expert help with Botswana stamps

South African Baobab expert and founder of the Baobab Foundation, Dr Sarah Venter has recently been acknowledged by the BOTSWANA POST PHILATELIC BUREAU for writing the information-sheets of Botswana’s latest series of stamps in collaboration with Botswana’s Department of National Museums and Monuments. The date of issue of the series of four stamps was 8 December 2022. The Philatelic Bureau […] Continue Reading

Elephants causing damage to Baobab tree
By Elthea Schlesinger

Elephants cause damage and death to Mapungubwe baobab trees – what can be done?

Baobabs are a most important feature of Mapungubwe National Park. Management is under mounting pressure from ecologists and the public to find solutions to protect our Baobabs and river-forests of the bordering Limpopo River. Baobabs are part of the historical-cultural landscape at Mapungubwe. They are found on many of the archaeological sites around the park, evidence that they played an […] Continue Reading

By Elthea Schlesinger

The last but not the least of our Baobab Guardians

We have 9 more trees to measure in the Baobab Guardians program around November this year and then we have accomplished more than our initial objectives for the Guardians that we started off with in 2014. Our focus onward, will be more on our exciting Baobab wilding programme. These last 9 trees are dotted around Dambale village in the Limpopo […] Continue Reading