International Association of Falconry lauds Qatar efforts Thursday, 02 February 2012 00:32

Zayed Ali (third left), board member of Al Gannas Association, and Frank Bond (fourth left), chairman of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF), with other officials of Al Gannas and IAF at a press briefing yesterday at the Katara.Salim Matramkot

BY RAYNALD C RIVERA

Qatari initiatives to promote falconry in the country and throughout the region as an important part of cultural heritage have been lauded by the International Association of Falconry.

“This festival is symbolic of the importance of falconry in Qatar and how it is deeply embedded in Qatari culture,” said Frank Bond, chairman of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF) during a press conference at the Katara yesterday.

Bond along with some officials of IAF is in Qatar for the third Qatar International Falcon and Hunting Festival which concludes today.

He praised the interconnectedness of falconry, saluki hunting and camel racing in the culture of the country.

“This centuries-old cultural tradition is something we don’t find in other parts of the world,” he said.

Zayed Ali, board member of Al Gannas Association, said Qatar has a long tradition of falconry which has been passed from one generation to another, and through the annual falcon festival, Qatar is able to sustain this important sport.

IAF is a 44-year-old organization open to all ages to encourage falconry. To date IAF has 75 member organisations from 53 countries, some of which are national organizations such as Qatar’s Al Gannas Association.

“One of our significant achievements was when in 2010 Unesco recognised falconry as an ‘Intangible cultural heritage of humanity’,” said Bond, adding with 11 countries involved, it was the largest joint submission for cultural heritage in Unesco.

There are up to 40,000 falconers around the world which comprise men and women of different ages, according to Bond underlining a need to further promote it around the world.

Though he denied reports of the Association’s idea of a female association locally and globally, which disclaimed the existence of a Female falconry club in any country in the world.

Ali emphasised that the Assembly did not intend to create a female falconry association and that Katara, the Cultural Village has no link in any way to the rumours about this issue.

Bond stressed the goal of the association is the preservation of wild birds, considering this sport a traditional art of hunting in wildlife and to ensure the survival and the continuation of falconry.

“Through the festival, Qatar is contributing a lot to falconry,” he said, adding they have plans to hold the IAF’s annual general assembly here in 2014.

THE PENINSULA

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