Nyae Nyae: Women protect baobab trees from elephants

One man's joy is another man's sorrow. In the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in north-eastern Namibia, this saying applies to elephants and baobab trees. The protection of elephants has been successful, but the elephants are causing massive damage to the baobab trees.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reported this dilemma last December (see report on Namibian.org). Barely eight months later, WWF Namibia is now reporting the solution: The Ju|'hoansi San (Bushmen) are protecting the trees with stones and wire mesh.

The problem arose with the droughts of 2023 and 2024. The elephants intensified their search for water and food. They left behind more and more ancient baobab trees with stripped bark, broken branches and deep gouges in the trunks.

WWF Namibia conducted an inventory in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT). Pilots and wildlife experts flew over and photographed the areas.

Ju|'hoansi women record trees using the EarthRanger app

Next step: consultations with the Ju|'hoansi people living there. It was agreed to walk through and examine the trees recorded from the air. Ten women from the surrounding villages received practical training in the use of GPS-enabled SMART devices and the Earth Ranger app.

They measured trunk circumferences, assessed the extent of damage and marked fruit-bearing trees for special protection. By last month, the women had examined almost 600 baobab trees. 70 of these were classified according to the degree of damage.

This formed the basis for the adoption of protective measures. The villages in the core area selected baobab trees. Women from the villages surrounded 16 of the trees with several-metre-wide collars made of local stones. Another 24 trees were wrapped in wire mesh. The initiative is now being extended to other villages.

In the meantime, the baobab trees have been able to recover to a certain extent. Exceptionally good rainfall in March and April filled the pans and waterholes again, easing the pressure from the elephants.

More information and photos can be found in the WWF's post on Facebook.

Sven-Eric Stender