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I would like to present my sincere thanks to every member of our General Assembly who elected me president of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey, and to those who contributed a great effort to stabilize the bonds of this Association and planted sturdy bricks in its lofty structure.
Despite the apparent similarity and harmony among the schools of falconry represented by this Association, my election as the first president from this region is an eloquent expression of the loyalty of the tradition of falconry in the Middle East and North Africa.
Falconry in the MENA Region is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of falconry with its unique traditions that make it stand out as a perfect example of human harmony and deep immersion in nature, both learning from and adding to, nature through a keen desire to preserve a number of moral principles based on reflection, modesty, cooperation, sustaining natural resources, caring for animals, maintaining environmental balance, avoiding pollution and wastage, making conscious efforts to avoid damaging nest sites and habitats, refraining from hunting young breeding prey and animals, shunning killing for the sake of killing, bragging or aimless or pointless pay, without a real need for food.
Needless to say, all the falconry schools share high ethics and values, although they follow different methods and diverse means in multiple areas. For this reason, the unity expressed by this International Association will continue to intensify interaction and efforts so that the world will see us as we see ourselves, or in other words, as we really are. We will build more partnerships particularly with organizations that shoulder concerns similar to those that we shoulder, even though they may apparently be historical enemies to us, or obstructers to our noble heritage which seeks development for nature, sustainment of its resources and cooperation and peace with and for, all mankind.
Neither in this nor in any other thing will we start from scratch: we will build on the achievements of former president and advisory committees of this Association in order to strengthen those achievements and add thereto in partnership with all in order to attain the objectives and purposes we all aspire to achieve.
You know that our ambitions are boundless. For this reason we will continue to work together to raise the level and increase the prominence of falconry and the International Association of Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey in the international forums. We will play a real role, and our contribution will be clearly seen in the conclusion and implementation of international conventions. We will have more serious programs with national organizations and governments. We will not be able to achieve this unless and until we have completed the establishment of our administration for preserving birds of prey for implementing our strategy for preserving nature and natural species – both birds of prey and prey itself - and working with rural societies that aspire to sustaining their own resources, enriching their lives, growing their local economies and passing their richness to posterity.
The time has come for us to work more on identifying the main threats that undermine this noble heritage, to draw integrated plans, to build fortified partnerships to oppose and eliminate those threats, particularly the illegitimate trade of the birds of prey, animal welfare issues, unsustainable and non-regulated hunting, and other acts carried out by meddlesome encroachers on our heritage, particularly those who are not committed members, leagues, and organizations.
We will build on the huge achievement made through the success of falconry in occupying its rightful place on the list of intangible heritage of humanity, led by the United Arab Emirates, by strengthening relations with UNESCO, by organizing various festivals and events in order to strengthen bonds among cultures and by encouraging the younger generation to work on blending the various traditions of falconry.
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