Five massive baobab trees have commenced a 900km road journey from the port of Durban to the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve. Daily Maverick reported that the specimens were loaded onto specialized rigs on 11 November, marking the start of an urgent rescue effort. The trees had been left in a shipping warehouse in the Mobeni industrial zone for over three months, a period that left them thirsty and shrunken but still alive. The destination sanctuary spans the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, providing a suitable environment for their recovery.

Dr Sarah Venter, an ecologist who founded the Baobab Foundation, spearheaded the operation after identifying the trees' plight. According to Daily Maverick, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment had held the trees in late July before their planned shipment to Georgia. The original exporter, Divine Landscapes, struggled to secure valid permits for the removal and transport of the specimens. Venter secured funding from the Timbavati reserve to cover loading, transport, and replanting costs, bypassing slower government procurement processes that had previously threatened to delay the move to a botanical garden in Pietermaritzburg.

Venter noted that the trees are consuming their stored stem water to survive, with some showing signs of thinning and internal rot. She treated damaged sections with lime sulphur spray to combat fungal and bacterial issues, observing that all five specimens had sprouted leaves and flower buds. Almero Bosch, an ecologist at the Timbavati reserve, confirmed that a rehabilitation site with similar gravelly soils had been prepared. The area is fenced to protect the recovering plants from local elephants, and the trees will be secured with cables to prevent toppling while their root systems regenerate.

The trees are expected to arrive later this week or early next week, as they travel under special traffic department escort. Divine Landscapes, the Pretoria-based company responsible for the initial removal, claims the baobabs were obtained from private gardens with owner consent. However, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment is set to face the company in the Durban Magistrates’ Court in January, where Divine Landscapes will face criminal charges under the National Forestry Act.