#beth moon

Beth Moon

Beth Moon (American, b. 1955)

Half of this tree collapsed. A portion of the sides and back of the trunk still stubbornly remain. Gigantic branches, larger than most trees, pile in disarray at the base of the trunk. The entire thing is about the size of a football field.

In the fall of 2018, one of Madagascar’s most sacred baobabs crumbled and caved in on itself. The ancient giant tree was estimated to be about 1,400 years old and supplied food, fuel, and fiber to the region before its trunk, which spanned 90 feet around(!), collapsed.

The tree was called Tsitakakoike, which means “the tree where one cannot hear the cry from the other side.” The baobab was also thought to house the ancestral spirits of nearby Masikoro people.

An act of visual preservation, Beth Moon has created photos that show how the massive trees’ exposed roots were sprawled across the ground, a sure sign of years-long droughts. Many trees became so dehydrated they caved under their own weight. These devastating effects happen all the time in the region, which has gone through significant water shortages in the last few decades, rapidly reducing the baobab population.

Beth Moon Photography