I still remember when I read the book "The Little Prince" when I was a child, this description of the baobab tree in the text: "The baobab tree is not a small shrub, but a tree as big as a church, even if the elephant family is called, it will not be able to eat a baobab tree." "I've always been full of illusions about the baobab tree, what a big tree this is?" Why is it called a baobab tree? Could it be that there are monkeys growing bread on it?
When I first saw the baobab tree when I grew up, I was deeply attracted by its majesty, with a 10-meter-wide trunk and a height of 20 meters, all of which showed that I was the king of the African continent. Legend has it that God threw it from heaven and hung it upside down on earth to allow it to thrive.
Baobabs are also one of the oldest stars in the plant kingdom, surviving about 5,000 years, even in the harsh arid environment of the savannah. According to relevant records, in the 18th century, the famous French botanist Adamson saw some baobab trees in Africa, and the oldest one of them lived for 5500 years. Due to local folklore that the baobab tree is a "sacred tree", it is protected by people.
The baobab tree is also the "tree of life" in Africa, nourishing thousands of African beings. Iron-rich leaves can be eaten cooked like vegetables; large fruits are used to make juices and beer, and the vitamin C content of the king of vitamin C oranges is only one-sixth of its vitamin C.
The bare trunk has a brown bark up to 30 cm thick, which is rich in cellulose and has a certain degree of fire resistance, which can be used to make fishing nets, ropes, sacks and clothing; roots can also be used to make red dye; seeds can be used as a substitute for coffee, roasted and can be eaten, etc., it has become a symbol of African culture.
The baobab tree is also capable of storing a lot of water, its wood is very loose, like a porous sponge, can store up to 140,000 liters of liquid, and is very popular during times of drought and water shortage. Elephants are also very fond of baobab trees, they like to tear off large pieces of tree trunks or tear off whole branches to get nutrients and stored water, and as the Little Prince writes, the family of elephants can't eat a baobab tree.
However, this tree of life, which can live for thousands of years, has been dying on the African continent for nearly 12 years.
According to a June 2018 study published in the journal Nature Plants, some of southern Africa's oldest and largest baobab trees have recently died. Nine of the 13 oldest baobab trees in southern Africa have died, and five of the six largest have died, or their most important trunks have collapsed or died, dating back to ancient Greek times. The culprit is likely to be the warming the planet is experiencing.
The most famous of these is the baobab tree in Sunland, South Africa, which is the largest tree in Africa, 6,000 years old, and there is a bar with 15 customers in the middle of the trunk, but it collapsed on April 13, 2017. Another famous Chapman's baobab tree also fell in 2016.
These age-old baobab trees either partially crack or have dry and broken branches, with only 40% of the moisture content in the branches compared to their health. According to studies, no traces of external diseases such as fungal diseases have been found in trees, so after excluding diseases, only climate change is the culprit.
In recent years, the rainy season in southern Africa has often been delayed, and due to rising temperatures and persistent drought, baobab trees have been unable to absorb enough water to sustain large branches, resulting in low immunity and thus the problem of death. David Baum, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says old baobabs are more susceptible to drought than their gray appearance.
Scientists are studying the DNA of baobabs in an attempt to save baobabs, which can be newly planted but can take a long 15 to 20-year growth cycle. While the best trees are already being sought to reduce their growth cycle, it takes years of research and selection to find the best cultivars, and time is running out – many of them are dying.
Today, three of the nine surviving baobab species of these ancient and unique "trees of life" have been listed as endangered by the IUCN.
For decades, villagers in Botswana have witnessed the demise of baobabs, believing that human actions have occupied areas where steppe hunters once roamed. Both the introduction of agriculture and changes in the soil have had a negative impact on trees.
As a symbol of African culture, the baobab tree has been deeply engraved in the hearts of every African, and if it is not protected, our children may no longer see the towering tree described in the book "The Little Prince". Don't wait until the time of extinction to understand regret, when all life has become history, how long can we survive when we are left alone?