George Gvasaliya, a Georgian businessman, environmentalist, and lover of the outdoors, purchased the enormous trees from Kilifi County in 2022 through the Ariba Weeds International Company in order to create a botanical garden.
The largest, oldest, and most mythological trees in Africa, baobabs are exported by Gvasaliya to botanical gardens worldwide. The medium-to-large deciduous trees were bought and exported by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former prime minister of Georgia.
The park’s administration released a statement claiming that the botanical park, which Mr. Ivanishvili funded and launched in 2020, was opposed by a local political party and the media under its influence.
“They, together with the people who created and carried out this innovative project, are determined to see it through to the end. This is precisely what transpired when several baobab trees were transplanted from Kenya,” a statement published on Friday, August 9, 2024, in an article by Georgian News states.
According to the statement, the proposal faced ideological opposition from covert politicians and their purported non-governmental organizations as soon as the topic became public.
“Due to their false eavesdropping and alarmist complaints, the process of transplanting the plants, which was conducted in full compliance with the law, was significantly delayed,” .
The letter further asserts that in an effort to thwart the export, leaders of the now-opposition party initiated a slander campaign and made many calls to high-ranking Kenyan government officials.
The statement claims that in an effort to obstruct the process, fictitious experts were brought in, information was fabricated, and baobabs from Kenya were incorrectly recognized as those from Madagascar, which are included on the Red Book.
The project implementers consequently wasted time in the never-ending bureaucratic maze by having to continually get the identical phytosanitary reports and permits from different agencies.
“Although justice eventually prevailed in Africa, and all the false accusations were dismissed by Kenyan courts and executive authorities, they (the party) still managed to damage the project,” the statement adds.
Owing to the delays, artificially constructed barriers prevented the trees that were uprooted in 2021 from reaching Georgia until October 2023.
The day they were eventually planted in Georgian soil was November 8, 2023.
Up until that point, the African “giants” were forced to spend almost two years in utterly inappropriate environments with inadequate care.
“Unfortunately, this stress took its toll on these unique plants, and after six-to seven months of being planted in the ground in Georgia all eight baobab trees withered,” claimed the statement.
The Dendrological Park’s management reports that a number of baobabs that were previously transplanted are still doing well in Shekvetili and Tbilisi.
There were no intentional delays during their relocation; everything happened in good time, and every tree benefited from the right conditions being created.
“It should have happened again this time, but regrettably, certain people’s meddling ended tragically. This shows once more how unhealthy and dangerous the so-called “opposition forces” with their headquarters in Georgia are. The Dendrological Park released a statement saying, “The style and manner of their actions clearly remind us of the previous government’s approach.”
