Shoonto

Shoonto is a riverine forest reserve on the Jubba River in southern Somalia. Shoonto Forest Reserve covers 267 ha and was legally established in 1984; it is one of two forest reserves, with Barako Madow, incorporated in the proposed Aangole-Farbiito (Forbiitu) National Park between the towns of Bu'aale and Jilib ^[1]. The 2018 United Nations List of Protected Areas of Somalia also includes a designated national park named "shoonto" ^[2].

The Key Biodiversity Area factsheet for the proposed Aangole-Farbiito park, which includes Shoonto, lists spotted hyena, striped hyena, Harvey's duiker, a second duiker species, Cephalophus natalensis, lesser kudu, waterbuck, gerenuk and dibatag, the last assessed as Vulnerable. ^[1] It also lists two fish endemic to the Jubba River, Pardiglanis tarabinii and Barbus gananensis. ^[1] These records come from an assessment dated 2001.

Common trees of the riverine forest in the proposed park include Ficus, Mimusops, Diospyros and Sorindeia, with a canopy 15 to 25 m high, a dense understory and abundant vines. ^[1] Adjacent areas have thorn-bush dominated by Acacia and Dobera, and low woodland with Newtonia, Balanites and Hyphaene. ^[1] Two plants, a Cola species and a Cyperus species, are recorded as possibly new to science and possibly endemic to the Jubba valley. ^[1]

The reserve lies on the Jubba River, whose average discharge is about 536.7 cubic metres per second. ^[1] The forest belongs to the river corridor, with gallery forest up to about 100 m wide. ^[2]

Somalia's year follows four seasons: Jilal from December to March, the harshest dry season; Gu from April to June, the main rainy season; Xagaa from July to September, a second dry season; and Dayr from October to December, the shortest rainy season. ^[1]

People live and farm in and around the forest. The factsheet reports at least 10 villages within the proposed park's boundaries, seasonal use by nomadic pastoralists, cultivation of maize, sorghum, groundnut and sesame, and significant bee-keeping and honey-hunting. ^[1] Pre-conflict irrigation schemes were also reported to threaten the floodplain. ^[1] The Jubba basin was irrigated for crops such as sorghum, maize and cotton in the time of the Ajuran Empire. ^[2]

Shoonto Forest Reserve was legally established in 1984 ^[1]. The wider Aangole-Farbiito area has been proposed as a national park but not gazetted, and it has no protected-area coverage ^[1]. The 2018 United Nations List of Protected Areas of Somalia records "shoonto" as a designated national park, with no year of designation, area or IUCN category ^[2]. There has been little formal protection or management of most Somali protected areas since the central government collapsed in 1991 ^[3].

No trails or visitor facilities have been developed. The attraction is the riverine forest itself, which the factsheet describes as among the last semi-intact riverine forests along the Jubba. ^[1]

Travellers considering a visit to the Jubba valley should check current government travel advisories first, because security conditions vary widely and change quickly.

More than 50% of the riverine forest in the area was lost between 1960 and 1984, and farming and settlement continue inside the proposed park ^[1]. The proposed park has no protected-area coverage, despite the 1984 reserve status of its two forest blocks ^[1].