IAF eBulletin December 2022

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!

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.

The eBulletin will be available in other languages thanks to volunteer translators. 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

Highlights from the 2022 IAF Council of Delegates Meeting

This year’s IAF Council of Delegates Meeting was held in Pińczów, Poland in a hybrid format. We were hosted by the Polish Falconers Club alongside a meeting for their 50th anniversary, and celebrations on the occasion of the addition of Poland to the list of countries that have submitted falconry to the UNESCO ICH representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Sue Cecchini was unanimously voted in as Vice-President for North America, succeeding the outgoing Dan Cecchini, and Mohammed Mamdouh was elected for MENA, following the footsteps of Karim Rousselon. We wish them all the best of luck for their forthcoming engagement and we also thank the outgoing Vice-Presidents for their support and commitment to the IAF.

Yearly reports from the Vice Presidents, from the Officers and Working Group chairs were then presented, highlighting the importance of the various initiatives taken along the year, among which the Welfare Course takes a very important place in highlighting the central role of IAF in providing expertise on raptor welfare. It was highlighted that IAFs presence at multinational environmental conventions and official meetings is vital to the representation and promotion of the art of falconry.

The council of delegates also voted to welcome the two new IAF member organizations Club Accipiter from Romania and the Lijiang Falconry Cultural Foundation from China.

Quoting the welcoming speech from our president H.E. Majed al Mansouri, “There’s an old proverb that says, “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit”.  (...) Falconry is a family; it is touching that so many countries feel a part of this family.”

We thank the Polish Falconer’s Club for their precious help and assistance with the organization of the Meeting and look forward to the next Meeting to be held in Kearney, Nebraska, USA in November 2023.

IAF VP for Europe Mark Upton Addresses Polish Falconers Club on their 50th Anniversary

IAF Vice President for Europe Mark Upton addressed the Polish Falconers Club on the occasion of their 50th anniversary:

"Dzień dobry (Good morning).

It is a great honour for the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey to be invited to join you in celebrating both your 50th Anniversary Meeting and the inclusion of falconry as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by Poland. Both are greatly important achievements that you should be congratulated on. Our President, HE Majed al Mansouri had hoped to be here with us to celebrate this occasion with you and sends his apologies for not being here.

We thank you for stepping in and organising this joint meeting at short notice. Yesterday at the IAF Council of Delegates Meeting some important issues for falconry and conservation were discussed. And the IAF continues to do everything it can to secure the continuation of falconry for its member clubs.

The Polish Hawking Club has a long and admired history in European falconry and conservation, and we are greatly looking forward to enjoying good sport with you in the coming days. As a falconer myself I could not help but notice the wonderful condition of the falcons and hawks here. Which is always a sign of falconry being well managed and in a healthy condition in a country."

2022 World Falconry Day Celebration

WFD 2022 was a great success with many countries joining the celebrations.

UNESCO seeks to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, particular those elements that are passed on from one generation to the next. This is what the global falconry community celebrates and commemorates on WFD.

With that in mind, EWG and SLP worked together with the WFD committee to provide materials for Falconers and Associations that could help to showcase falconry to the general public – especially in schools. We also actively promoted WFD on IAF social media.

Falconers around the world celebrated WFD in different ways, but the vast majority of Associations celebrated with online and face-to-face lectures as well as field meetings and public relations initiatives.

We also received a wide variety of documents signed between falconry associations and governments as well as many photos of individuals using the World Falconry Day logo. It is noteworthy that the events were held in schools, universities, museums and in collaboration with non-profit organizations.

The Education Working Group coordinated a successful Falconry Art Calendar competition, for which 45 entries were received. All submissions may in the future be used for IAF projects and banners.

The Communication and PR thematic group and WFD committee want to Thank you all for spreading the word about Falconry, and we also want to remind you that FALCONRY remains the largest nomination in the history of the UNESCO ICH convention.

We have a lot to celebrate!! Keep doing the great work.

UNESCO ICH Discussion Group Launched

Meeting of the 42nd Standing Committee of the Bern Convention

Between the 28th November and the 2rd December 2022 IAF attended the Bern Convention to make representations on behalf of falconers and science-based bird of prey conservation.

The Bern Convention, (Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats) is a Council of Europe treaty binding its 50 signatory countries to conserve European flora, fauna and their natural habitats.

The state parties agree on the protection statuses necessary for flora, fauna and habitats, by placing them on Appendixes 1, 2 or 3 of the Convention. Habitats are also protected by designation as Natura 2000 and Emerald Network Sites.

The Bern Convention brings together the state parties with civil society, which is represented through accredited observer non-government organizations, like the IAF, which has been an accredited observer since 1986. IAF represents the interests of falconers and advocates for the conservation of birds of prey. Observers have the function of monitoring state compliance with the Bern Convention and bringing the attention of civil society to the convention in cases where national governments fail to protect habitats or species adequately.

IAF sits on three Bern Convention Working Groups and also attends the yearly meetings of the Standing Committee. This allows us to advocate not only for the interests of falconers and birds of prey, but also to work with other sustainable-use organizations to promote sound conservation, based on scientific evidence.

Attendance at the Bern Convention is important: this policy instrument administers the Habitats and Birds directive, two of the most important EU policy instruments affecting birds of prey and falconry. 

Attending the Bern Convention allows IAF to engage with national government delegations and with other NGOs to cultivate positive relations for national falconry communities to use.

From a falconry point of view, highlights of this year’s attendance included the positive report to the standing committee of the IKB (Illegal Killing of Birds) Working Group of which IAF is an active member and to whose drafting IAF contributed, as well as developments on a number of open national cases that affect birds of prey.

DFO 100 Year Anniversary Celebration

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