IAF eBulletin for May 2020
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Thanks to volunteer translators, this eBulletin is available in other languages. If you would like to take part, email muehle@iaf.org . If your language does not appear, we upload late translations onto the Facebook page
Important note to delegates, to club representatives and to translators: please don't forget to forward this eBulletin to your club members and all the falconer you know, especially the many language versions, even if it is by a "share" on social media - you will magnify the falconer's voice!
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Falconers are spreading the art of falconry and promoting bird conservation for youths through the IAF School Links Program
Falconry is the most effective educational tool to promote raptor conservation and to explain the roles of birds of prey in the ecosystem as well as to spread the intangible cultural heritage for the young generation and public. While falconers are a small group in most countries, their support is of huge importance for science and animal welfare, Veterinary medicine, and education. In recent years, falconer’s involvement in environmental education and rehabilitation centers, as well as educational programs has been increasing, thus showcasing wildlife conservation measure for youths and visitors to experience these efforts through falconry.
The IAF School Links Program has been active since 2012 and provides education on falconry heritage and raptor conservation throughout the world. We invite falconers from all over the world to become involved in the program’s activities. IAF updated all of its educational programs and projects to combine them into the IAF Falconry Education Program last year.
In addition to this, ISLP has updated its own strategy and is encouraging falconers from all over the world that wish to do so to join the ISLP and become associates. In this academic year, we are happy to announce 8 associates from 8 different countries. They include Craig Hendee (USA), Tula Stapert (Holland), Joanie Lamoureux (Canada), Bob Dalton (UK), Yousef George (Poland), Andrew Savage (Ireland), Stravros Athanasiou (Greece) and Tsendsuren Tuvaan (Mongolia). They are all volunteers and are leading the program activities in their own countries by actively promoting falconry heritage and raptor conservation for youths. In the coming autumn, we will continue to run this program for students at involved schools and for young falconers with the help of our associates. In addition, we would like to invite falconers and conservationists who want to become an associate to join the ISLP. Therefore, if you interest in the ISLP, please send us your information via email to education@iaf.org.
Figure 1. Associates of the IAF School Links Programme, 2019-2020.
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Disease Profiles Series #3 West Nile virus:
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The IAF Welfare Working Group hereby releases the third instalment of its series of concise and clear information on common diseases that affect the birds of prey used in falconry. Eventually, it is hoped to bind them into a booklet and to promote them on our website and social media, as a reference for falconers and for those vets who may not be familiar with avian diseases, but may come across them; in many countries there are no avian veterinary specialists and these should encourage them to look deeper. The third in the series, “West Nile Virus”, has been prepared by Andrea Villa and Dr. Dominik Fischer, DipECZM (WPH), University of Giessen, with input from the rest of the IAF Ethics and Welfare Working Group.
Please click on the link to access the publication.
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The return of falconry in Greece
After many years of fighting for our right to practice falconry, our art has at last become legal!! The responsible ministry has reintroduced an article into the forestry law which legalizes falconry again within a strict framework of laws. Provisions allowing for the practice of falconry had been deleted in 1998, due to a lack of lobbying and organized interests. This 10-year effort was the outcome of the intense lobbying of government officials by our association led by our president, Stavros Athanasiou, and with the active support of our members. Specific tribute must be paid to the invaluable efforts of the forester N. Vlachos, the international basketball player D. Papanikolaou, and our Board members Dr P. Azmanis (Dubai Falcon Hospital, UAE) and Dr C. Antoniou (Falconer and vet from Cyprus).
Falconry has a rich history in Greece, dating back 3.500 years and including reports from Aristoteles and Homer as well as accounts going back to the Byzantine Empire and Ottoman occupation. Falconry was included in every Greek constitution since the birth of the new Greek State in 1825. Active falconers in the 21th century were not as numerous as in Central Europe, but even after the ban of falconry in 1998, falconry has never disappeared completely with a small number of enthusiasts practicing it under certain legal exemptions such as in the Greek Airforce or for pest control.
With the current developments our Association commences an ambitious but rewarding process. The dissemination of modern falconry in Greece includes education and the promotion of the highest standards of practical falconry characterized by a respect for our art, raptors, prey species, stakeholders, as well as nature as a whole. Now we have the responsibility to share our knowledge and shape the falconry community in Greece to serve our art and the protection of raptors as falconers do in every modern state with the guidance and support of IAF. We will train new generations of falconers to comply with the high standards which IAF promotes, with nature protection laws and to contribute with new evidence and experiences to promote and evolve our international art.
Our Board shall keep the international falconry community appraised of any new achievements and efforts.
From the Board of the Association of Hellenic Falconry
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You can now Pre-order your 2020 IAF Journal and save some postage costs.We wil post them when the current pandemic restrictions are reduced.
We would like to highlight that this years Journal will feature a total of 57 translations of its articles into various languages which will be included via QR codes. It is our hope that this facilitates the sharing of more amazing falconry stories with the gloabl falconry family.
Please share this with your friends , clubs, and on other falconry pages and groups.
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To make the most of limitations imposed throughout the world by quarantines, the young falconers group, in cooperation with NY University Abu Dhabi has prepared a survey for youths - though of course anyone is welcome to participate. The aim of the survey is to collect information about how falconry influences people's lives. This may be a good opportunity to stay in touch even during this period as we await opportunites for meeting up at falconry events and festivals! We would like to invite you to spend few minutes and answer our questions! Thank you for your participation! (http://www.123formbuilder.com/form-5409319/form)
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Contingency plan for IAF 2020 Council of Delegates Meeting
This year's meeting is scheduled the week of November 22nd, hosted by the North American Falconers' Association (NAFA). We do not know yet when and how travel restrictions due to the covid 19 pandemic will be relaxed and, till now, IAF has been assuming we will be able to go ahead with our meeting and we have been planning accordingly. However, some time limits will be reached quite soon, for example, visa applications. Delegates hoping to travel, if restrictions are lifted, should begin the visa application process right away.
The decision to hold or not to hold the NAFA Meet is slightly too early to make, but that decision will come from the NAFA Board. If NAFA decides to hold the meet and it is happy that delegates from overseas join it, then all delegates, club representatives and individual subscribers will be informed by email straight away.
If NAFA cancels its national meeting due to covid 19, or if it does not cancel, but international travel is still heavily restricted, then IAF will hold its meeting by video-conferencing over the course of the same week, probably in chunks of two hours at different times of day to ease problems caused by time zones (there are IAF members in all World Time Zones). Documentation is expected to be shared well ahead of the meeting so that the actual critical meeting time can be reduced.
In summary: no decisions have been made yet, the IAF Council of Delegates Meeting could be as normal, in person, or virtually by video-conferencing, or a hybrid combination of the two. We don't have to decide which to do today, but it is certainly not too early to begin planning for a virtual meeting.
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