How can I stop termites eating the seedlings / trees / herbs I have planted?

Not long after planting, they're nearly dead from termites eating the roots.

In some parts of the world, particularly parts of Africa and Asia, termites will quickly attack and kill transplanted trees and plants.  They attack the roots.  In the past, some very heavy doses of scary pesticides have been used to help the plants get established.  The attacks seem to drop off once the plants have been in for a few months. Keeping the plants well-watered all the time can make a big difference as water-stressed plants are more readily attacked.

The fastest way to kill the attacking termites is an application of a liquid insecticide mix to the soil around the plants (sometimes before planting). Though just about any registered 'termiticide' can be used, it is probably best to look at something with "imidacloprid" which isn't (yet) known to be very toxic to us. Imidacloprid is often used for aphids, leaf-eating insects and fleas on dogs. You'd need to look at the product label's fine print to find it.  There may not be any products labelled for termite use in your area, so you may find that nothing can be legally applied, unless done by a professional pest manager.

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