Measuring Baobab girth

It feels a bit like when you mark off the height of your children on the doorpost, but every year in May Diana Mayne, a baobab colleague, and I visit Skelmwater Baobab research plot to do annual growth measurements. This research plot was started in 1931 to measure the annual diameter growth of baobabs. This year was the 83rd measurement and most of the trees got a bit wider due to the good rains, but some years if its very dry, the trees shrink. This little tree is the smallest tree on the plot.

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How baobab’s heal themselves…

How baobab’s heal themselves…

Recently, friend and baobab fan Shona sent through this delightful photo taken near Xigera Reserve, Okavango Delta in April this year.  It shows their guide pointing out elephant damage to a baobab tree.  It’s old elephant damage and you can see in the picture how the wound has healed over with new bark.  It’s quite wonderful how baobabs manage to […]

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The hidden benefits of baobab oil and fruit powder

The hidden benefits of baobab oil and fruit powder

Annie Nenzhelele has been collecting baobab fruit for EcoProducts for a few years now.  Last week when I was visiting her village she said that she has been using the money she has earned for building her house.  She took me into her house to show me the bags of cement she  had bought to […]

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The Mysterious Life of Baobab Flowers

The Mysterious Life of Baobab Flowers

How are baobab flowers pollinated? It’s still a subject for considerable research and Nisa Karimi has been studying baobab flower pollination in the Limpopo area.

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