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
By Dr Sarah Venter

Why is meshing baobabs so important?

In this video Dr Sarah Venter explains how important baobabs are in our landscapes. Baobabs are hotspots of biodiversity hosting dozens of bird, animal and reptile species. She explains how to mesh baobabs to protect them from elephant damage. Tswehe Wildlife Reserve offers an opportunity for visitors to mesh their own baobab. Dr Sarah Venter explains how important it is [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Baobab Guardian program comes to a successful end

Ten years ago (2014) the Baobab Foundation established the Baobab Guardians program.  Women from different villages in Niyani volunteered to be Guardians of young baobab trees to protect them from browsing goats.  The program planted 101 baobab trees and successfully brought them up the height that they would flourish for the next few centuries. This week the last nine Guardians [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Be patient, baobabs take their time

The “plantation-style” baobab trees planted into the ground in Mabvete village were measured in November 2024.  The late rains meant that they have only just started to flush their new leaves.  We were hoping that they would have grown tall enough to plant out into the wild this year, but they are not quite there yet.  We will have to [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

PHASA Foundation and Honorary Rangers help protect baobabs

As part of the ongoing work to protect baobabs from hungry elephants another two trees were meshed in Mapungubwe National Park this week.  Working with SANParks, Working on Fire and the Honorary Rangers we plan to mesh 20 more baobabs in the park.  With financial support from the PHASA Foundation we have already meshed 8 baobabs in Mapungubwe NP this [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Volunteer to mesh a baobab!

Tswehe Reserve is a magical area in the Tuli Block in Botswana.  The reserve has numerous baobabs dotted across the landscape from the Limpopo River in the south to the vast mopani veld in the north.  Lloyd and Isabel Gillespy run an impact programme that offers immersive nature experiences and opportunities to contribute to meaningful conservation management.  Their program now [...] Continue Reading