Three popular picnic spots across the park will one day be shaded by beautiful indigenous trees, thanks to volunteers who made the cross-country mission.
Northern Cape, South Africa (25 August 2026) – The saplings of twenty African trees are standing tall in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park!
The park is located in the Kalahari Desert region of the Northern Cape and crosses over into our neighbouring country, Botswana.
During a recent visit to Kgalagadi, a group of SANParks Honorary Rangers from the Free State noticed that a number of picnic sites in the desert were lacking shade. Instead of leaving the spaces as is, they committed to making a positive change for future picnickers in the national park.
With permission from park management, the volunteer rangers started an initiative to plant indigenous trees that will eventually bring wonderful shade to three of the park’s popular picnic sites.
“After noticing several shadeless picnic sites in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, the idea of planting camel thorn trees (Vachellia erioloba) for shade, was born.” share the SANParks Honorary Rangers.
“With permission from park management, the SANParks Honorary Rangers of the Free State Region set about turning the idea into reality.”
All 20 saplings were carefully grown from seed and nurtured on a farm outside Bloemfontein until this month, when a team from the Free State transported the saplings, along with all the equipment needed, to the transfrontier park.
Honorary Ranger green thumbs got to work, and within four days, eleven camel thorn saplings were planted at the Kamqua picnic site, four at the Melkvlei picnic site and five at the Twee Rivieren campsite.
As per iNaturalist, camel thorn trees are well suited to the semi-arid regions of southern Africa, where they occur naturally. They can grow up to 20 metres high and provide wonderful shade. They are perfect for desert environments, as they are very hardy and drought-tolerant.
Related Stories
These Surprising Leopards of South Africa Also Deserve Some Love!
Dogs Found Safe But Hijacked Vehicle Still Missing – SPCA Still Needs Eyes and Ears! Interestingly, ‘camel thorn trees’ (‘kameeldoring’ in Afrikaans), also called ‘giraffe thorn trees’, get their common name from the fact that giraffes commonly feed on the leaves with their specially-adapted tongue and lips that can avoid thorns.
The scientific name ‘erioloba’ means “wooly lobe”, refers to the tree’s ear-shaped seed pods.
“Park personnel welcomed the prospect of more shade and will be watering the twenty saplings regularly until they become established. Visitors to the three picnic sites were equally enthusiastic, expressing their gratitude for the project, and even offering to help with digging and planting.” share the Honorary Rangers.
SANParks’ Honorary Rangers are a national group of volunteers who give their time and skills to support SA’s conservation work. They help by fundraising, carrying out wildlife projects, spreading environmental education, and providing equipment or resources that parks need. They aren’t SANParks employees, but they do work closely with SANParks to help protect and improve the country’s national parks – all for the love of it.
Every sapling planted by their green thumbs will bring a spot of shade to many future cross-border adventures across the Kalahari.
“So if you happen to be visiting the park, please share your picnic site photos in the comments below so that we can see how our trees are faring!”
by 
