IAF eBulletin October 2023
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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 falconers you know, especially the many language versions, even if it is by a "share" on social media - you will magnify the falconer's voice!
This eBulletin has been published without waiting for translations due to the time sensitive nature of some news items. Some translations will be linked at a later date, so if your language is not there please check back later via the link below.
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Improved Laws for Falconry in Peru
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The IAF Congratulates the Peruvian Falconry Association for their hard work in improving the legal conditions for falconry in Peru, a testament to their hard work and strategic collaborations with their government authorities, civil society, scientists and the IAF.
Message from the Peruvian Falconry Association (Asociación Peruana de Cetrería y Conservación de Aves de Presa):
"After three government consultations and almost a year of constant monitoring, the Hunting Calendar for the Lima region was approved and published in the official gazette of the Republic of Peru "El Peruano" .
This achievement marks our commitment as APCCAP towards the continuity of the practice of Falconry in Peru, based on legality, culture, and conservation of the environment, prey and our birds of prey. It is important to have legal support in order to counter the propaganda of animal rights groups, and to safeguard our ability as falconers to go out and practice falconry in the field. To achieve this, we have been working hand in hand with SERFOR (National Forestry and Wildlife Service) which is our national regulatory body, to ensures the propagation of good practices and the perpetuity of our way of life.
- Jose Antonio Araujo Mayorca, APCCAP President and IAF Delegate for Peru"
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Reminder - NAFA and the IAF Council of Delegates Meeting 2023
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The Kearney, Nebraska, USA, International Falconry Meeting is the largest of all the International Meetings. It takes place on 19 – 24 November, 2023 and will host the IAF Council of Delegates Meeting.
The North American Falconers Association (NAFA) invites all members, guests, subscribers, and interested fellows to this, the 4th visit of the IAF to the USA and the 3rd to the Kearney, Nebraska area; ample game, excellent falconers, falconry-friendly habitats, a superb venue, and friendly mid-western folks, this is an opportunity to see the best of US falconry.
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Visas are time-sensitive and it is likely to be too late now for most nationalities to start the process, unless you are from one of the 40 countries in the US Government Visa Waiver Program. Visit the government site and follow directions by initiating or updating the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta )
Venue: the venue for the meetings is the Kearney Holiday Inn and the La Quinta Inn. Both hotels are on the same property, less than 50 metres apart. Rooms around $110 +tax/night with hot breakfast included.
You Must use these numbers for hotel reservations: Holiday Inn: +1 (308) 237-5971 La Quinta Inn: +1 (308) 237-4400 Identify yourself as a falconer attending the IAF/NAFA meeting to receive the group rate.
Kearney Airport (EAR) is available directly via air (United Airlines) either from Denver (DEN; 2X/day) or Chicago (ORD, 1X/day). Alaska, American, United, and Delta airlines all fly to Omaha (OMA) 2hr 30min by road from Kearney. United and Delta serve Lincoln, Nebraska (LNK) 1hr 45 min by road from Kearney. American Airlines serves Grand Island, NE (GRI) 45 min by road from Kearney. Almost all major carriers fly to Denver (DEN). Some participants in the past have flown directly to DEN, cleared customs there, then shared a hired car to Kearney, 5 hours by road from Denver.
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Hunting:
The highlight of any Nebraska meet is USA game hawking at its best. While the USA is beginning to see the early effects of the world-wide decline in small game animals, game populations in Nebraska have been good over the last few years.
We expect adequate game, as always, for a successful meet in Kearney. We will do our utmost to make sure you get to see the type of US falconry you wish to see.
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Registration closes 31 October 2023
To register online for the meet, please contact boukje@iaf.org, who will give you the correct links to registration forms.
Online/discounted registrations must be received by October 31st. Registration at the door is possible for a moderately higher fee. If you are an international attendee, please select the 'Payment Type' of 'Bill Me' when registering online. If you have any questions or problems, please don't hesitate to reach out to Boukje in IAF, or to Meet Chairman Ralph Rogers nafanew@itstriangle.co
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World Falconry Day
World Falconry Day is fast approaching. November 17th is the day that falconers all over the globe celebrate the inscritpion of our art onto the lists of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is a great opportunity for us all to promote falconry on social and other media in the lead up to the big day.
Already some clubs are planning big events to show the public how we celebrate that we are part of a worldwide community with a common culture. We come from different nationalities, languages, religious backgrounds, social classifications, yet we are more united than the United Nations.
If you are planning a school visit, please don't forget the School Links Programme, it has a lot of useful resources to promote conservation through falconry and by falconers.
Plan your event now, anyone can take part and the WFD logo (here) may be used by anyone, not just IAF member clubs. If you would like to use the IAF main logo, the event should be connected to a member club. Contact wfd@iaf.org or info@iaf.org
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ADIHEX 2023 Conference - the Sustainability of Falconry and facing the challenges of the 21st Century
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Bob Van Strien, postgrad student at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, genetics consutant for Project Lugger, gave an excellent presention on genetic diversity and inbreeding in captive-bred falcons. He explained clearly the genetic bottlenecks that can occur in both captive-bred populations and in wild populations when they decline to critically low levels.
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In September, the IAF attended ADIHEX, the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, and organised a 3 day Sustainability Conference. For the first conference day, 14 experts from 14 different countries discussed the following topics:
- The importance of dialogue with governments and local stakeholders to ensure a future for falconry
- How is the heritage of falconry going to be affected? Shifts in prey/quarry base and distribution of falconry communities and how we prepare for a shift in falconry practices as a result of environmental changes.
- The importance of captive breeding and the role of genomics on generations of captive bred falcons.
- Developing educational materials, hosting regional workshops and webinars to increase awareness of the potential threats to the art of falconry and to put in plans for facing those threats.
A selection of experts spoke to reflect the multidisciplinary and multi-faceted nature of falconry and put forward the strategies for facing them, which are being developed by the international falconry community.
Each year the Emirates Falconers Club and the IAF invite young falconers of diverse nations to ADIHEX. On days two and three, a seleection of young falconers presented on problems being faced by falconers in their countries and how these are being addressed.
A recording of the conference is available here.
A proceedings document is inpreparation and will be available digitally on request to secretariat@iaf.org .
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Left to right: Angeliqu Engels (Botswana), Ferenc Hársfalvi (Hungary) and Jonah Klocke (Germany) spoke on their concerns for falconry and how the future can be assured. Other speakers in this section were: Julian Mühle (Chile), Marisol Pachiano (Mexico), Ellen Hagen (Norway), Alessandra Oliveto (Brazil), Misa Leiva (Guatemala), Jose Antonio Araujo Mayorca (Peru) and Anna Maria Morales (Colombia)
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2024 IUCN Regional Conservation Forum
The IUCN Regional Conservation Forum 2024 will take place from 30th Sept to 3rd October, at the Bruges Meeting and Convention Centre. Itr is to be organised in conjuction with the Belgian Biodiversity Platform. Please click here for the full explanatory brochure.
There is a planning meeting with local IUCN members and other partners that have expressed interest in joining forces on 11th December from 9.00 – 12.00. The IAF will attend. This meeting will provide the opportunity to meet and discuss opportunities to participate in the programme and to get to know what is an IUCN RCF and the current state of play of the organization.
If you would like to participate, please sign up to attend this meeting by 4th Dec. It will be an in person meeting, venue details to follow soon.
The IAF Offices in Brussels will be made available on the previous and subsequent days for any IAF Working Group Meetings that maay be proposed. The actual forum event in 2024 will be of particular interest to all in IAF who are involved in Conservation and Biodiversity.
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In mid-September, a very up-beat weekend was hosted by Club Accipiter, the Romanian falconry club, in the iconic Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum in the heart of Bucharest .
The event was part of the annual St. Eustache Day (Eastern Patron of Hunting) celebrations, in conjuction with the Hunting Federation of Romania. Music, food and stands showcasing Romanian hunting and falconry were enjoyed by large crowds of the public and more serious discussions were held in a meeting with H.E. Gheorghe Nacov, Deputy in the Parliament of Romania, Secretary of the Group of the National Minorities, President of the Bulgarian Minority and National Representative of the community of hunters.
Leading the hunters were the president of the Hunting Federation Board, the president and board members of the Romanian falconry club, the president of the Bulgarian Falconry Union, the president of the Hellenic Falconers and the CEO of IAF.
Over the weekend, a team from Green Balkans, part of the "Life for Falcons" project, funded by the EU's LIFE program, visited the festival and met representatives of the institutions and the local and foreign NGOs and there was positive dialogue on conservation activities and the LIFE project, the territory of which also includes the Danubian cost of Romania.
It was agreed that only with dialogue and joint efforts will we be able to help the fragile population of the saker falcon in the region.
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Permitting INDIVIDUAL SUBSCRIBERS allows IAF to recognize and encourage individuals who might not be part of a member club, to attend IAF events and to volunteer for roles within our organization. Individual subscribers also receive a copy of the IAF's International Journal of Falconry, a high quality publication issued annually.
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