Kinshasa’s last baobab: how a tree designed for survival faces its biggest threat yet

Kinshasa’s last remaining baobab tree in an area earmarked for development in Gombe. Activists are rallying to try to save the symbol of the city’s past. Photograph: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham

Anyone who has ever seen a living baobab tree should find it hard to forget. Alongside the ubiquitous acacia – the thorny umbrella tree – baobabs are statuesque icons of Africa’s drier landscapes.

The trees have influenced, anchored and fed communities for tens of thousands of years, influencing culture and traditions, inspiring art and folklore. This week, freelance reporter Emmet Livingstone’s dispatch for us from the Democratic Republic of Congo, ironically also the home of the world’s largest tropical forest, really struck a chord with me and with many readers.