Africa’s 2,500-Yr-Old Baobab Trees Are Dying Mysteriously

Thirteen of the oldest known baobabs, aged between 1,000-2,500 years, have died within 12 years.

Baobab trees dot southern Africa’s hot and dry stretches of savanna.     

(Photo: AP)

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

Africa's ancient baobab trees, known as the ‘trees of life’, are under threat. Some of the largest and oldest of the baobab trees have been dying mysteriously in recent years.

But what is killing these trees?

Nine of the 13 oldest known baobabs, aged between 1,000 and 2,500 years, have died over the past 12 years, according to a study published in the scientific journal Nature Plants. Baobabs are the largest flowering trees in the world. The sudden collapse of the baobabs is being seen as “an event of unprecedented magnitude”.

Is Climate Change Responsible?

Climate change, that has led to rising temperatures and increasing drought conditions, is being suspected as the cause of their deaths. However, the definite cause is unknown. Baobab trees have died in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe regions.

Some trees are so old that they predate the Christian calendar. It is unfortunate that they are facing threat to life.

Baobabs Also Called ‘Bottle Trees’

Limpopo in South Africa is known as the land of baobabs – the iconic trees that can soar higher than 20 metres – have such large hollow trunks that people have been known to build houses, shops and even prisons inside them.

Baobabs are also known as ‘bottle trees’ because they store large amounts of water in their trunks and branches, and that explains their bulbous shape. Some of the larger trees can store as much as 140,000 litres (37,000 gallons) of water during the monsoons.

Baobab trees are an integral part of the natives’ lives. They provide shelter, medicine, food and security to the communities living around them.

It works inside our bodies, making us strong. It’s like a medicine...we get energy from it.

Anna Munzhelele, Village Elder

Restoration Top Priority

Daniel Pouakouyou, Regional Technical Advisor for Africa at the United Nations Environment Programme, is convinced that whatever sickness may be affecting Africa's baobabs has human roots.

Now that we realise that the baobabs will no longer be living that long and it is so important to the lives of the people and the ecosystem, perhaps it is time we start to put those species on the list of restoration priorities. We can plant species like this because it is very easy to grow a plant from the seed of a baobab for those who know how to do it. 

Daniel Pouakouyou

If not rescued in time, baobabs may become extinct.

(With inputs from AP.)