Abu Dhabi, October 3 (BNA) Majid Ali Al-Mansoori, Secretary General of the Emirates Falconers Club, was re-elected as President of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF). He will serve a new three-year term starting in January.
The IAF, an international organization of 110 clubs and agencies from 90 countries representing more than 100,000 falconers, is dedicated to preserving the ancient art of falconry, a hunting tradition defined as “the taking of a quarry in its natural state and habitat by trained birds of prey.”
The unanimous re-election of Al-Mansoori during the General Assembly of the International Aeronautics Federation reflects the growing global confidence in his ability to develop the activities, events and achievements of the International Federation over the past years.
A key component of Al-Mansoori’s strategy for the IAF is to make it a self-sufficient and self-financing NGO.
Among his main achievements are the representation of falconers around the world, the follow-up to the establishment of falconry clubs in Luxembourg, Finland and Norway and the support of the Danish Falconry Club to restore the legitimacy of falconry in Denmark.
Four countries were added to the membership of the International Aeronautical Federation, the practice of falconry was promoted in Africa, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and efforts to protect wild falcons continued in Asia.
Al-Mansoori has chaired the International Aeronautics Federation since 2018, and was elected Vice-President of the Middle East and North Africa Federation in 2015.
He co-founded the Emirates Falconers Club in 2001 and is a member of the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC).
Al Mansouri has had a leading role, along with his previous position as Secretary General of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, in promoting efforts to implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Since 2003, he has contributed to the organization of the Emirates Falconers Club for the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX), the largest of its kind in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.
He also contributed to the revival of the organization of the International Falconry Festival in 2011 and the establishment of the Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School in 2016 to raise awareness of falconry as a common heritage of humanity.
Founded in 1968, and headquartered in Belgium, IAF is a non-profit organization concerned with preserving the art of falconry as a human heritage, and the traditional culture associated with birds of prey and their prey, through the preservation of natural habitats and the promotion of falconry in the context of the sustainable use of wildlife.
The objectives for which the International Falconry Federation was established are to conserve traditional falconry in their usual practice areas, to promote them in areas wishing to practice them, and to conserve birds of prey, their game and associated habitats. This also aims to show the positive image of falconry and its preservation in all its aspects, and to promote scientific and medical research on wild and captive-bred birds of prey.