IAF April 2020 eBulletin

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!

Next Joint Meeting of the CMS Intergovernmental Task Force on Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean (MIKT)

The next Joint Meeting of the CMS Intergovernmental Task Force on Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean (MIKT) and the Bern Convention Network of Special Focal Points on Eradication of Illegal Killing, Trapping and Trade in Wild Birds is scheduled to be held from 6th to 8th October 2020 in Valencia, Spain, thanks to a very generous offer from the Spanish Government.

Given the current global situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone is closely monitoring the developments in conformity with instructions received from the WHO and national administrations.

IAF sits at meetings of the task force and has been a very active participant since the Task Force began. If you are interested in getting involved in the IAF's work with the international conservation conventions, and perhaps attending this meeting, please email info@iaf.org. The 3rd Joint Meeting will build on the success of previous meetings and will assess progress in addressing Illegal Killing, Trapping and Trade of Wild Birds in the Mediterranean, identifying pathways and approaches to advance the ongoing work.

We kindly ask you to note the date of the meeting in your agendas, and the secretariat will be providing further information in the coming months. Please note that depending on evolving circumstances, and in line with UN and WHO guidelines, the feasibility of the format and conduct of the meeting, including potential postponement, the use of virtual means or cancellation may be considered.

If you have something to share, we want to hear about it!

We need reports of what is going on in your part of the world, how you celebrated falconry, news about issues that affect falconry where you are or anything of cultural or sporting importance that you wish to share with the global falconry family.

* If you are able to send us your content in English as well as in either Russian, Arabic or Spanish, please do so.
* Please do not make the reports, news items or stories too long - between 500 -800 words in fine.
*We'd also love nice big high resolution pictures (at least 1MB)
* We would also love interesting videos.

Remember to submit the source for the content and photos.

You can also see our latest newsletter at this link.: https://sway.office.com/CWDQ3fvHHBOzhzgf?ref=Link&loc=play

Government-Falconer collaboration on rehabilitation of Booted Eagle in Pakistan

In the beginning of April, 2020 an adult booted eagle was rescued at Chilmishdass, near Gilgit in the north of Pakistan, by the field staff of the Regional Wildlife and Parks Department of Gilgit-Baltistan. The eagle had some minor health issues, and was given to Shahid Ali for its rehabilitation. Shahid is a falconer and advisor to IAF who is part of the IAF translations team.

After being given a clean bill of health, on 7th April, 2020, Shahid and officers of the Wildlife and Parks Department of G.B, set it free in its natural habitat. The Secretary Forest, Wildlife & Environment, Chief Conservator, Conservator Parks & Wildlife of Gilgit-Baltistan appreciated the efforts made by the IAF advisor and have extended their gratitude in support of the work of IAF on indigenous and migratory raptors species.

Project Lugger

Founded in May 2017, Project Lugger strives to conserve the Lugger Falcon in the wild through both education and captive breeding. In just under three short but exceedingly hectic years we as a Project have gone from the merely the kernel of an idea to where at the moment we have more than forty Lugger Falcons within our Project and fourteen of these are out on loan to different Falconry and Bird of Prey Centres being used in daily displays to both entertain and educate the public.

The Project has also managed to gain a UK based home and through donations built an aviary complex. We have also helped members within the Project put pairs of Luggers together and as I sit and write this brief article we currently have three separate clutches of Lugger chicks being raised, three more pairs sitting on fertile eggs and a further three pairs sitting on eggs which have not been checked for fertility. So in our first true breeding season we are experiencing quite a modicum of success. A well as having pairs in the UK we have also helped fellow Project Lugger members make up pairs in France, Belgium and Portugal as well as cooperating with people with pairs of these special falcons in Germany and Poland.

Undoubtedly one of our turning points as a Project was to be accepted by the IAF as a supported member in October 2019. Following on from this another major step forward for the Project has been its recognition in the UK as a charity and accordingly we have been awarded charitable status. This opens many doors for us and means other conservation societies and programs appreciate our dedication and resolve.

The founder of Project Lugger and one of his fellow charity trustees travelled to India last October to see for themselves Luggers in the wild and speak with various conservationists there. The trip was most certainly an enlightening one.

Through the good offices of the IAF the Project was also invited to attend the recent “Conservation of Raptors in Pakistan” conference and give a power point on the Project and its work. This event led to a massive step forward for the Project with contacts being made and information with conservationists and government bodies happily exchanged. Negotiations are currently on going for the establishment of a, government backed, small scale breeding project for Luggers in Pakistan.

From the young Luggers produced by the Project this year a number will be retained within the Project to make up future breeding pairs. However we are also looking to place six or so Luggers with active Falconers in the hopes they will hunt with them and therefore raise not only the awareness relating to Luggers but also their adaptability and suitability as hunting falcons.

If you would like to see what we are doing and how we are going about it please go to our web site www.projectlugger.com any questions you can send an e-mail to bobprojectlugger@gmail.com

International Project Lugger Awareness Day

International Lugger Awareness Day will take place on Saturday 9th May 2020. The reason for this particular date being chosen is that it is the closest Saturday to the third anniversary of the founding of the Project which was May 6th 2017.

There were big plans for all Centres and organisations involved with the Project to have open days and specific Project Lugger fund raising gatherings. In fact one of our latest and certainly one of our most enthusiastic recruits to the Project, Dorset Falconry Park, were going to be opening the new “Lugger Zone” on that day with their new aviary complex, Lugger related art gallery which is all set in an  attractive landscaped garden area with seating. The idea is a secluded area of the centre has been landscaped to incorporate 4 aviaries with Lugger Falcons that visitors can sit and watch without disturbing the falcons. There is even a pond and water feature to help complete the relaxation theme of the area.

As we are all to painfully aware the current Pandemic has curtailed all these sorts of gatherings and accordingly each individual centre involved will either postpone to next year or hold a form of celebration on a far smaller scale, later in the year, if we get the all clear and it is deemed sensible to do so.

But that doesn’t stop us celebrating the Project and its work through social media. So please if you have any photos of Luggers then please post them on our facebook page “Project Lugger” anytime in the week leading up to May the 9th.

Disease Profiles Series #2 Bumblefoot:

The IAF Welfare Working Group hereby releases the second 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 second in the series, “Bumblefoot”, 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.

Intangible Cultural Heritage - guiding Youths:

We are currently working on a project showing a montage of pictures and videos depicting amongst other things the learning and guiding of youths by their mentors or experienced falconers. This is a core tenet of our mission as falconers within the framework of UNESCOS ICH (Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention) of passing on our art from one generation to the next.

If you have any pictures of yourself or other youths being guided or taught actively by their mentors or other experienced falconers, please send them to us via muehle@iaf.org. Esentially we are seeking to capture the essence of what defines falconry as intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Feel free to add a description if you wish to make this even more enriching and meaningful.

Since we would like to use these picture, please only send them to us if you took them yourself or have obtained the photographers permission (in accordinace with article 12 of the IAF social media code of conduct). Also please name the person who took the picture as that way they may be credited.

(Picture by Gonçalo Abreu)

IAF Social Media Code of Conduct

The IAF is committed to the responsible and ethical depiction of falconry on our social media as highlighted in our constitution. The IAF has a history of aligning the development of falconry with our sustainability goals, our conservation goals and our values. To this end, we have produced the following social media code which will guide publications on IAF social media pages and within the framework of IAF projects.

Click on the link below to see our social media code.

SULi Members Article opposing wildlife trade prohibition during Pandemic

A number of members of the IUCN Thematic group SULi wrote an article in "The Conversation" in which they raise concerns about the apparent current enthusiasm for indiscriminate far-reaching wildlife trade prohibition.

Click on the link to view it.

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