IAF re-elects Majid Al Mansouri as president

ABU DHABI / WAM

The International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF), an international organisation that includes 110 clubs and agencies that are concerned with falcon hunting, where this organisation represents 90 countries, with which over 100,000 falconers around the world are affiliated, has announced the unanimous re-election of Majid Ali Al Mansouri – Secretary-General of the Emirates Falconers’ Club – as President of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF).
Al Mansouri has been unanimously re-elected for three new years effective beginning of 2022, which was at the conclusion of the IAF General Assembly agenda. This assembly was held on the sidelines of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (Abu Dhabi 2021) activities, and with the unanimous decision of all (IAF) members.
This reflects the growing global trust in the UAE’s capabilities and the experience of its people in each field, appreciation of the major role played by Majid Ali Al Mansouri in developing the activities, events, and achievements of the (IAF) over the past years.
This also reflects this role to enhance the (IAF) relations with the organisations that are concerned with conservation of falconry and human heritage, primarily UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation.
His strategy for the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF) is represented in making it a self-sufficient and-self-financing non-governmental organisation. Moreover, the Board adopts a clear task and vision by transmitting positive messages and determination of four major areas as a priority. These four areas include monitoring and studying laws adopted at the international level to evaluate them and their impact on falconry, and ensuring the possibility of coordination with international regulatory bodies and participating in their operations.
This also includes providing access to best practices and obtaining extensive knowledge and ensuring their quality and accuracy, and achieving more effective communication with members, regulators, and the public. Additionally, this involves supporting the (IAF) units specialised in their communication requirements as well as developing programs to coordinate members’ activities, and promoting individual activities for them.
Among his key achievements in the leadership of the (IAF) is the representation of falconers all over the world, and the follow-up to the establishment of falconry clubs in Luxembourg, Finland, and Norway.
Furthermore, this also includes the support for the efforts of the Danish Falconry Club to restore the legality of falconry in its country. Thus, four new countries are added to the list of countries the International Federation of Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF) represents. This also includes the promotion of falconry practice efforts in Africa, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the continuation of efforts to protect wild falcons in Asia, which have achieved great success rates.
Al Mansouri has presided over the (IAF) since 2018 until today, where he was elected earlier for the position of Vice President of the Federation for Middle East and North Africa in 2015. It is also said that the Emirates Falconers’ Club joined the (IAF) as a member in December 2003, where that was shortly after its establishment, which took place in September 2001.
The “International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF) “is a non-profit organisation, and was established in 1968. It is concerned with preserving the art of falconry as a human heritage, and the associated traditional culture of birds of prey and their preys, through the preservation of natural habitats and the promotion of falconry in the context of the sustainable use of wildlife.
The (IAF) is currently headquartered in Belgium, where its membership is available and open to all organisations, which have taken for itself the tasks and purposes that mainly include the sport of falconry. As defined under the Charter, it means “pursuit of wild game in its natural state by a trained bird of prey.”
The objectives for which the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF) was established are to preserve falconry in its traditional image in its usual practice areas, to promote it in the areas wishing to practice it, to preserve birds of prey, and their wild games and related habitats. This is also aimed at demonstrating and sustaining the positive image of falconry in all its aspects, and promoting scientific and medical research on wild and captive-bred raptors.
Majid Ali Al Mansouri co-founded the Emirates Falconers’ Club in 2001, and he is a member of the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC). Moreover, he had a leading role – in parallel with his previous position as the Secretary General of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) – in strengthening efforts to implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Since 2003, he has contributed to the fact that the Emirates Falconers’ Club organises the Abu Dhabi International Hunting & Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX) on an annual basis, which is the largest of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa.
In addition, he also contributed to reviving the organisation of the International Festival of Falconry starting 2011, and establishment of the Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School in 2016 with the aim of raising awareness about falconry as a common heritage of mankind.