Andry U. Petignat is director of the renowned Antsokay Arboretum in Toliara, southwestern Madagascar. He is an amateur botanist with a particular interest in succulent plants, and, naturally, baobabs. He is co-author of the Guide des plantes succulentes du sud-ouest de Madagascar, published in 2009.

Louise D. Jasper is an English nature photographer, artist and designer. She lived in Toliara for nine years, where she developed a passion for Madagascar’s unique flora and fauna. Her images have been widely published, and she is co-author of Life Amongst the Thorns: Biodiversity and Conservation of Madagascar’s Spiny Forest, published in 2015.