Forest allocation
Talking about the KOBO distribution, an interviewee said: ”The KOBO
economic forest is owned by individuals who belong to a particular clan
and which are found very far from the village. The KOBO forest managed
and used according to the requirements and wishes of the owner. The
majority of the respondents (86%) stated that allocation of the KOBO
forest conservation culture is fair and the common cultural practice of
the Sheka people.
In one village, there may be one particular clan and own an area of a
large tract of forestland, for example, the Wollo clan owns the DEDO and
GUDO sacred forests located inside the clan territorial and political
unit. The same thing holds true for KOBO. In his accounts of the
management of the KOBO economic forest as one interviewee put it: “The
KOBO economic forest was allocated and administered by that particular
clan. All members of the clan are entitled to get a share of the
benefits, which are derived from the use of KOBO forests. The management
and conservation of economic forest (KOBO) is the responsibility of the
clan leader” (KI-4, 23 Jan. 2016: Masha Town).
Another interviewee, when asked about the distribution and allocation of
KOBO, said:
“KOBO forest is a large plot of forest far away from the village were
put under the category of KOBO forest. The clan leader (Gebi tato)
divided forests into each member of the clan in the village. The
allocation of the KOBO forest is not equal to the member of the clan.
Not all member of the clan in the village has KOBO forest. In a village
where there is relatively less forest, the farmers may be engaged in
other economic activities like livestock and farming, than the
production of honey. Even among the KOBO forest holders, there is no
equitable distribution of KOBO forests among households. As the number
of village households had increased from time to time, the KOBO forest
holding also decreased. Another reason for the unfair distribution of
KOBO forest is that previous KOBO holders only share the KOBO forest to
their family and those non-KOBO forest holders do not have KOBO forest
at all (FGD-4, 25 Jan.2016 Gecha Town).
The management of the KOBO forest is the responsibility of the
individual KOBO holders. A common view among interviewees on the
management of the KOBO forest shows that access to the KOBO forest and
collection of forest products only for households belonging to the
particular KOBO holder. No individual can enter and make use one’s KOBO
holding for his own consumption. The collection of forest products by
people other than the owners’ family members is strictly prohibited. The
clan leader (Gebi tato) deals with decisions that need to be taken
regarding KOBO allocation and administration. The KOBO forest is well
protected and is never converted to other land uses and the owner of the
KOBO has a birthright to transfer the KOBO holding to the next
generation (KI-4, 20 Jan. 2016: Gecha Town).
In the Sheka zone, the KOBO forest conservation culture is implemented
in two different ways. According to the REED+ PFM project coordinator in
the Sheka zone, there are two KOBOs this is forest-based KOBO and
area-based KOBO. In the forest-based KOBO, trees are counted and given
to each member of the village; this is very common in a place where
there are a high number of populations. The clan leader (Gepi tato) does
allocation of trees to the village members. The second one is area-based
KOBO system, in which the KOBO forest conservation culture, forest is
allocated based on demarcating some geographic feature like rivers,
hills or mountain. Based on this unique geographic feature, the KOBO
forest are allocated to different KOBO holders. This is also done under
the auspices of the clan leader (Gepi tato) (KI-4, 20 Jan.2016 Masha
Town).
Benefit sharing
The KOBO forest is the principal source of honey for the Sheka people.
The majority of the respondents (84%) said that there is economic
importance of the KOBO forest conservation culture and the Sheka people
traditional belief system. The Sheka traditional forest conservation and
management practice is not only used for conservation of biodiversity
but also serve for the production of quality honey that creates a huge
market demand within and outside the Sheka zone. Participants of FGD on
Masha woreda consolidated this fact: ”the Sheka people traditional
forest conservation and management practice there are forests which are
used mainly for productions of honey” (FDG3, 25 Jan. 2016: Masha
woreda). One-KOBO holder may have up to 120 bee hives. In addition to
the production of honey, the KOBO forest is used for extraction of trees
for house building and another household consumption” (KI-4, 22 Jan.
2016: Masha Town).
The majority of the trees are used for the production of quality honey.
Kinds of honey are produced from different tree species. The types of
honey produced depend on the tree species. Due to this traditional
knowledge, the Sheka people have identified different tree species.
According to the Masha Woreda department of forest and Environment
protection, the Sheka people through their indigenous knowledge have
been able to identify seventeens tree species during their growing
season. This traditional knowledge of honey production was accumulated
through the culture of KOBO. The KOBO holder in the Masha woreda stated
that
There are two growing seasons for the production of honey in the Sheka
zone. One is the month of April and the second one in December. In all
villages, there are abundant honey plants and the Sheka people through
their traditional forest-related knowledge to identify the types of tree
species from which honey is produced (FGD-4,28 Jan.2016 Masha Town).
The table below shows the types of tree species in their growing season.
This knowledge of the tree species indicates that how the people of
Sheka follow traditional forest-related knowledge and forest management
practices that have developed over time. There are customary rules
regarding forest use. In the past, trees were not bought and sold. If
anyone cut down trees, a new tree sibling was planted as a substitute.
The Sheka people believe that the forest is a life for the Sheka people.
According to the Sheka tradition, if a tree falls down for an unknown
reason, the Sheka people express their condolence by staying home for
three to four days; which is equivalent to the death of the close
relative. This popular belief reflects how the Sheka people used to care
and manage the Sheka forest.
Table1: Correspondence between folk names of indigenous tree species in
the Sheka forest and scientific classification with their flowering and
fruiting stage seasons.