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William Daniels

Climate change will increasingly become a threat to several Malagasy baobab species. As the trees’ habitat shifts north, three species will be left behind when they reach the northern coast. But scientists say hope for these species is not lost. By working with local communities to conserve nature and collecting seeds—vaults of baobab DNA—scientists can help Madagascar remain a home to its iconic baobab trees.

Under an overcast sky, a Suarez baobab tree towers above the landscape. This species can grow over 80 feet tall, a feat it accomplishes over centuries. Trees belonging to this species grow on the northern coast of Madagascar, and as their preferred climate inches northward, they’re unable to follow it.

Laborers sift for sapphires at a mine near the village of Ambondromifehy in northern Madagascar. Behind them, the critically endangered Adansonia perrieri grows. Sapphire mines are common in this region of Madagascar and one of the many threats baobabs face from environmentally damaging industries.

In the village of Andavaquera, Sagrina, Seraphin’s husband, cooks a meal using charcoal, Madagascar’s main source of cooking fuel. Charcoal is not only an environmental hazard; cooking with this fuel produces dangerous indoor air pollution that harms human health.

Near a forest reserve in northern Madagascar, a man named Seraphin—a father of five and a farmer—carries a bag of charcoal. Like many people living in the countryside, Seraphin makes extra money by selling charcoal. To make it, producers must cut down trees and burn them under the right conditions to create the dense clumps of energy.

On a small peninsula near a town called Antsiranana, a Suarez baobab serves a solemn purpose. Babies who die before they reach five months old are brought here or to other trees, instead of the cemetery, and hung from a branch.

As young baobab trees, saplings are vulnerable to the elements. Here, a newly planted tree is protected by a cage made of sticks that shows the name of the tree’s sponsor.

A boy holds a baobab seedling at the baobab garden. Under the right conditions, the seedling could grow for hundreds of years. Natural areas like these have the potential to not only protect trees, but also sustainably provide food and water to local communities.

Through a boat window, kids watch baobab trees pass by. At the forest preserve, they will plant baobab trees and learn about the importance of protecting the species.

Schoolchildren take a boat to the Cap Diego peninsula where a reforestation project run by the non-profit group Jardin des Baobabs (Baobabs' Garden) is planting new baobab trees. Billions of dollars have been spent on conserving Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, but a recently published study noted these projects have failed to include local residents and leaders at times.