South Africa Opens Case Against Man Planning to Export Five Baobab Trees to Georgia

A criminal case has been opened in South Africa against a man who planned to export five baobab trees to Georgia. The trees are located in a warehouse in the city of Durban. According to the warehouse owner, the trees have been halted while the authorities investigate circumstances related to possible violations of the planned export to Georgia.

According to a statement from the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), the trees were to be exported to Georgia, but the exporters did not have the license required for export. The identity of the exporter has not been disclosed.

According to the DFFE, on July 27, 2026, the exporter applied to the department for a license. The license would have covered the removal, possession, collection, transportation, export and acquisition of the 5 trees. The application was rejected on July 31, 2026, because the matter is the subject of a criminal investigation. The applicant filed an appeal, which is under review.

The warehouse where the trees are located is owned by the company Africa Global Logistics (AGL). According to the company, as soon as "problems related to regulatory documentation" became known, the transportation of the baobabs was halted.

In 2024 it became known that eight baobab trees planted in November 2023 in the Shekvetili Dendrological Park had dried out. The park administration blamed the incident on opponents of Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Ivanishvili brought the baobabs from Kenya. According to The Guardian, at least eight trees were sold by local farmers from their private lands for prices between $800 and $2,400. Kenya's Ministry of Environment revoked in November 2022 a license that would have allowed a foreign company to dig up eight baobab trees and transport them to Georgia. The decision was preceded by a request from the country's president that the ministry check the process of digging up the trees in Kilifi County.

The ministry then stated that baobabs should not be exported until agreements between the parties were properly regulated and brought into line with international documents on biodiversity and access to genetic resources.

Members of the Kenyan parliament launched an investigation into the export of baobabs to Georgia. According to local media, they accuse three state agencies of a lack of transparency and corruption in selling the trees. Environmental advocates called the export "biopiracy" and opposed the removal of the trees, which create the natural habitat for many insects, reptiles and birds.

In February 2023 the Kenyan government finally granted permission for the controversial export of baobab trees to Georgia.