IAF eBulletin for October 2020

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!

FACE Conference on improving the Common Agricultural Policy

The European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) organised an online conference “Can the next CAP make space for nature?’’. It included several MEPs and experts and sought solutions to the challenges facing biodiversity and addressing these through reform of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy of the EU). The panel discussion was held ahead of the EU parliaments vote on the next funding period for the CAP. A consensus of the discussion was the need to strengthen the second pillar of CAP to improve greening and biodiversity enriching measures and simplify application and reporting processes. In order to achieve these objectives and improve the state of biodiversity in the open farmlands it is necessary for farmers, policymakers, hunters and conservationists to work together.

IAF has written to the European Commission and has asked all European delegates to lobby their MEPs in support of CAP reform along the lines proposed by FACE and the panel members.

World Falconry Day: November 16th

A lot of meetings and projects have been cancelled this year because of the Covid-19, but now, with the slow opening-up in most of the affected countries, and with a little bit of imagination, some projects should be possible, specifically "World Falconry Day” on 16th November 2020! We are making a loud call to every one of you and your club members to organise something to celebrate it.

It can be a small hunting meeting, a visit to a school, a workshop to make some falconry gear, an exhibition in a museum or a fair, a photo or a drawing contest..... and so many others! Please take pictures and send them to boukje@iaf.org, and give us permission to use them. We will use those photos for updating the UNESCO recognition, which must be done regularly.

Don’t forget the IAF rules for pictures! Here is a link to them. Preference is given to people with birds, birds and dogs, flying birds.

We count on you to share this email with as many falconers as you can, including those falconers who are not part of any club!

Falconry, a living human heritage

The recognition of falconry by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage of humanity is key to its preservation. The art of falconry unites our community and creates bridges across national and linguistic borders. These bridges have allowed for the dissemination of falconry techniques from one culture to another, where they have been interwoven into the heritage, culture and traditions of many countries. While falconry is a living human heritage and it is practised in the field by our global falconry family, it is important to remember and preserve the unique traditions that each country has developed over the millennia. It is of vital importance to work with UNESCO and the cultural ministries of each country.

Please see this document recognizing the cultural value of a country's intangible cultural heritage. Page 109 contains an English translation of the reasoning behind the falconry inscription. Participation in IAF activities, such as World Falconry Day, and conveying the activities undertaken demonstrates to the world that falconry is alive and is being passed on from one generation to the next.

Young Falconers Group Survey:

Dear friends,

For those of you who have not yet completed the young falconers' interview, I ask you to spend few minutes of your time to fulfill the survey we have carried out in cooperation with “ NY University of Abu Dhabi”. Your contribution will be welcomed and it will be essential to be able to collect a statistic number of answers, and then compare the data that give us a likely view of how young people live and consider our common passion - ” Falconry” . Thank you.

Andrea Villa, founder of the Young Falconers Group 

Tom Cade obituary by the Raptor Research Foundation:

At the beginning of this year Tom J. Cade, emeritus Professor of Ornithology at Cornell University and founder of The Peregrine Fund passed away. Please click on this link to read a beautiful obituary written by the Raptor Research Foundation detailing annecdotes and recognizing the many contributions that Professor Cade made towards the preservation of peregrines and other species within his lifetime.

Disease Profiles Series #6 Bacterial Diseases

The IAF Welfare Working Group hereby releases the sixth 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 sixth in the series, “Bacterial diseases”, 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.

Announcement of EU-UK Border regulations post Brexit:

[On the 8th of October] the British Government ramped up preparations for the end of the transition period by publishing an updated Border Operating Model, which provides further detail on how the GB-EU border will work and the actions that traders, hauliers and passengers need to take.

This publication gives traders further information they need to prepare for the changes and opportunities as a result of leaving the EU Single Market and Customs Union, and regardless of whether we reach a trade agreement with the EU.

The Border Operating Model is available here.

You will be aware of previously issued guidance to help minimise disruption in the movement of CITES-protected animal and plant species and their parts once we end the transition period on 1 January. Anyone wishing to bring a specimen of a protected species of animal or plant into GB or export from GB to the EU or NI will require a CITES document. Such documents must be applied for in advance of travel and inspected and endorsed (stamped) by Border Force at one of the 29 CITES points of entry and exit (PoE).

Spam email warning

Dear Delegates and friends of IAF,

We have been made aware of spam emails purporting to be from the late IAF presidents Christian de Coune and Frank Bond, who died in 2012 and 2013 respectively. These emails are not from any iaf.org email address, so we have no control over them, nor are they from any email addresses that were actually used by Christian or Frank.

The ones we have seen do not ask for money or action, but they do contain short messages that may have been sent by the former presidents during their lifetimes.

Please be aware that this is happening, verify that any email you receive comes from someone you know AND that it is sent from their correct email address. Do not open any attachments.

My best regards to you all. Please take a moment today to remember Christian and Frank.

Gary Timbrell

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