ABU DHABI 28 August 2019: The International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC), has launched its ‘Fear’ campaign to warn the worldwide falconry community of the dangers of the illegal Houbara trade, during the opening day of the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2019, Adihex.
The UAE has strict penalties in place, including heavy fines and imprisonment, for anyone caught engaging in illegal wildlife trading activities. The IFHC Fear campaign is designed to further engage with falconers emotionally, educate them on the dangers the illegal Houbara trade pose to their prized birds and falconry as a heritage sport.
IFHC’s campaign reinforces the fact that smuggled Houbara typically carry diseases and suffer tremendous stress from capture and illicit transportation. As a result, severely sick Houbara can endanger the lives of falcons during hunt training, said Wam.
Through collaboration with falconry clubs across the GCC, including Emirates Falconers’ Club, the campaign will stress how the illegal Houbara trade represents a serious sanitary threat to the entire ecosystem. With only one in 10 wild Houbara surviving being smuggled across the UAE border, the trade is a significant factor in the historic Houbara population decline and, consequently, a major threat to traditional falconry.
Co-ordination needed to stamp out illegal trade in birds of prey
The fight to eradicate the illegal capture of and trading in birds of prey “requires co-ordination at all levels – national, regional and international”, Majid Al Mansouri, the President of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey, IAF, said.
Al Mansouri, who is also secretary general of the Emirates Falconers Club, EFC, was speaking at the opening of a one-day workshop on the illegal trade in birds of prey, organised by the IAF, the EFC and the International Fund for Houbara Conservation as part of this week’s Abu Dhabi International Hunting Exhibition, Adihex.
The IAF, an international non-governmental organisation accredited by Unesco, has nearly seventy member organisations in 48 countries worldwide.
Within the UAE, Al Mansouri said, the EFC has taken steps “to encourage the breeding of falcons in captivity in accordance with international scientific regulations.
At the level of the IAF, he added, there is a strategy “to fight the illegal trade through serious short-term, medium- term and long-term initiatives aimed at improving the means of controlling international trade, while developing the capacity to rehabilitate and release birds of prey, supporting countries’ efforts to strengthen awareness in local communities.”
