Irony of majestic baobab’s export amid Ruto plan for 15bn new trees

A baobab tree at the Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa

A baobab tree at the Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa.  The government has approved the controversial export of the ancient baobab trees from Kilifi to Georgia, contradicting President Ruto’s tree-planting programme to combat the effects of climate change.

Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group

On December 21 last year, President William Ruto marked his 56th birthday by launching a programme to combat climate change.

It included the distribution of 1,000 tonnes of tree seeds to 18 centres across the country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stop and reverse deforestation, and restore 5.1 million hectares of deforested and degraded landscapes through the African Landscape Restoration Initiative.

A few days earlier, the government had stopped the export of live baobab trees from the Coast and ordered an investigation into how a foreigner had been allowed to take the trees out of the country. 

However, nearly two weeks ago, the government approved the controversial export of the ancient baobab trees from Kilifi to Georgia, contradicting President Ruto’s tree-planting programme to combat the effects of climate change.

The export of live baobab trees, many of which are more than 100 years old, by Ariba SeaWeed International company to Shekvetili Dendrological Park Ltd in Ureki, Ozurgeti Municipality, has raised concerns among conservationists who have described the move as an irony to the President’s initiative, which aims to plant 15 billion trees by 2032.

Of concern, too, is the threat of biopiracy, where the tree is commercially exploited, especially by the exporters obtaining patents that could restrict its use.

After issuing a permit in November, and weeks later revoking it after the President ordered an investigation, Kenya Forest Service (KFS) Chief Conservator Julius Kamau allowed a Georgian, Mr Georgey Gvasaliya, to export eight baobab trees.

In a January 30, 2023 letter, Mr Kamau had approved the export following instructions from Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya on January 18.

Court case

Environmentalists have now gone back to court to stop the export of trees.

On Thursday, the Environment and Land Court in Malindi issued an injunction against the export of the eight baobab trees. Justice Evans Makori also stopped further uprooting of baobabs in Kilifi, pending a hearing of the case on March 13.

Kituo cha Sheria had sought conservatory orders from the court on February 23 to stop the uprooting and export of the trees.

The lobby has sued the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), the KFS, the County Government of Kilifi, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis) and the Attorney-General.

It argued that if the exportation of the baobabs continues, the public cannot recover the trees and the genetic resources in them.

Last week, the company responsible issued a public alert on its intention to move the live plants along the Mombasa-Malindi highway for preservation.

Baobab tree

An uprooted baobab tree ready for export to Georgia is transported along the Mombasa-Malindi Highway in this photo taken on November 20, 2022.

Photo credit: Kevin Odit I Nation Media Group

The Seven Stars Seamless Project Cargo Logistics Company issued a public notice for the movement of the trees, which stated that the trees would be moved from the yard at Bofa, where they were preserved through special treatment ahead of transportation between February 15 and June 30.

“According to Nema, the baobab trees are for transplanting in Georgia for conservation programmes and educational purposes. Meaning that the baobab trees are still alive and viable, hence the need for restoration to the natural habitats in Kenya,” said Kituo cha Sheria’s advocate Anthony Mulekyo.

Expensive tree

Due to the poverty in Kilifi, the locals have stumbled on a windfall, with a tree selling at about Sh300,000.

The high rate at which the locals were selling their baobab trees forced conservation organisations to initiate a petition dubbed “Please Save our Baobab Trees from wanton Destruction”, which attracted the attention of more than 3,000 people, including government officials.

The petition was an appeal to authorities in the Kenyan Government, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to immediately ban the “carnage” of baobab trees, protect them, and place them on the world list of threatened trees.

Researchers, scientists and environmentalists propelled the petition against foreigners operating under the Ariba Seaweed International Ltd, who have been uprooting baobabs in Tezo, Kilifi North constituency. The petition also condemned Nema and KFS for allowing the uprooting to go on.

Last year, the campaign drew the attention of President Ruto. At the time, 10 baobabs had been uprooted, treated and were ready for export, leaving behind craters in the villages where they were uprooted.

The intervention by President Ruto and the direction that the ministry investigates the uprooting temporarily saved the trees, which are considered sacred.

President Ruto instructed the Environment ministry to look into the uprooting of the trees to ensure it was within the Convention on Biodiversity and the Nagoya Protocol.

However, it was not long before the ban was lifted.

In October last year, Kenyans were shocked after Kephis, Nema and the Kilifi County Government gave the green light to Ariba SeaWeed International to uproot the trees in Mtondia and Tezo to be used for botanical purposes. The KFS gave its approval on November 1.

In its defence, KFS said it allowed the uprooting of the baobabs because they are not listed by the IUCN as an endangered species.

It also said the baobab is not a protected tree species in Kenya and did not also feature on any appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) — a multilateral treaty to protect endangered organisms.

Kenyan environmental experts have weighed in on the controversy, calling on the government to ban the export of the baobab tree.

Dr Amos Lewa, a biomedical scientist with the Kenya Medical Research Institute, said Kenya lost the Prunus africana (African cherry), endemic in the Rift Valley, which was harvested, sent to Europe and later patented.