tain the rules of rational and proper use of
resources—an indispensable element in an
environment dominated by scarcity and
unpredictability. These include the declara-
tion and respect of “range reserves”; the
declaration and respect of use rules for
plant species with specific economic and
cultural values; and a variety of rules and
practices aiming at water conservation
and at the protection of water point envi-
ronments. All these factors, together, are
crucially important to conserve the local
biodiversity.Livestock diversity and biodiversi-
ty conservation
The Gabbra keep mixed livestock species
(camel, cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys).
In arid lands, species diversity is a crucial
element of livelihood because different
livestock species have a different tolerance
to water and forage stress. Camels are
capable of using grazing areas fairly dis-
tant from water points, but cattle need to
be located nearer to them. Cattle are
affected more by watering distance, as
they need to be watered every second
day. Small-stock are affected to a lesser
degree and can be without water for
about four days. Camels may roam more
or less freely over the range as, tradition-
ally, they are watered only every 10-11days and can thus graze up to 50 km from
a water source.^2 Rearing more than one
species of livestock, each having different
management and environmental require-
ments, grazing levels and habits, feed
preference, and different levels of toler-
ance to different stresses, is a flexible and
opportunistic strategic choice, which
exploits the unpredictable availability of
natural resources.^3 In this sense, the
camel is possibly the most important live-
stock species, uniquely adapted to hot
and arid environments. It is such a valued
animal that the Gabbra place it next to
god in their social hierarchy.The possession of loading camels enables
the pastoralist households to wander
widely in pursuit of pockets of scarce pas-
ture and grazing while relying on water
drawn from sources up to 70 km away
from base camp.^4 The Gabbra women and
unmarried girls take camel caravans to
water on journeys that might take up to
two days and in which they get physically
stressed from long-hours of walking with-
out rest and food. The camels, however,
enable them to move with their house-
holds relatively rapidly and provide them
with milk for long periods, including dur-
ing dry spells. Importantly, the camels
hardly damage the environment, in con-
trast to cows and other animals with
hooves. Their soft feet do not scuff up the
top soil and do not expose it to erosion.Conservation aas ccultural aand ppolitical ppractice
Figure 2.Gabbra families(olla)migrating from a
base camp to a different territory over a long dis-
tance. (Courtesy of Chachu F. Ganya)
Figure 3.Gabbra women moving their base camp.
(Courtesy of Chachu F. Ganya)