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.