Falconry is officially 'a living cultural heritage'

At a Meeting of the Parties to the 2003 Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Nairobi this week, UNESCO has officially designated Falconry on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The submission was made by Abu Dhabi on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the Syrian Arab Republic. It is expected that Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia will be added shortly.

In its evaluation, the UNESCO Committee declared that Falconry, recognised by its community members as part of their cultural heritage, is a social tradition respecting nature and the environment, passed on from generation to generation, and providing them with a sense of belonging, continuity and identity.

Dr Nick Fox, who helped prepare the submission, said: “This is a milestone in the history of world falconry. I hope that one day soon the British government will also sign the Convention instead of waiting in the wings while our own rich British falconry cultural identity fades away. Despite Britain’s tardiness in cultural affairs, falconry is flourishing here. Up to 25,000 people keep birds of prey and find falconry a way to provide hands on contact with the natural world.”

Well done falconry! Now, who's next? Wildfowlers? Ferreters? Hunting perhaps? Many of our traditional countryside activities deserve this sort of recognition, but we've not been very good at promoting ourselves as a 'living heritage'.

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Hunting partridges with goshawks

Today I met up with Roy Lupton, and the goshawk chicks that have been starring in the fieldsportschannel.tv series, for their first outing after live quarry.


Hawking is completely new to me, so it was fascinating to see how it works. We started in the woods, using ferrets to bolt rabbits. The young goshawks seemed a bit fazed by all the cover, and never really got onto the rabbits, so we moved out to the field and Roy worked his pointer until we found a youngish covey of partridges. In a blur, a bird was in the air, the goshawk was released, and the two birds tumbled to earth together, the goshawk 'hooding' its catch in that distinctive way.

It was a privilege to watch, and a nightmare to photograph!

Festival of Falconry

Today I visited the splendid 2nd International Festival of Falconry, at the Englefield Estate near Reading in Berkshire. It's a fabulously colourful spectacle, with falconers from all over the world flying in to demonstrate their art and take part in the Parade of Nations in the grand ring. More photos on my flickr page.

I saw HRH Prince Andrew presented with a male gyr falcon by His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (try saying that fast three times!). And I bumped into all sorts of folk who I normally wouldn't see from one year to the next. All in all, a great day out.

One thing always strikes me about falconers in this country. When it comes to presenting an image that's acceptable to the public, they just 'get it', in a way that so many shooters and hunters don't. On Friday, they invited 500 local schoolkids to visit the show and learn about birds of prey and falconry. They also invited along Chris Packham, star of BBC Springwatch and darling of the conservation lobby.

These guys are even making a submission to UNESCO for falconry to be recognized as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage. Shooting could learn a lot from them.

Here's something else I noticed about falconers. They look at the sky. Most people just walk about, looking at ground level. Falconers are constantly glancing up at the sky. This chap was posing for photos when something caught his eagle's eye, and he instantly followed its gaze. A moment later I looked too. Couldn't see a thing! Just blue stuff with clouds floating in it.

Is shooting missing a trick?

I recently received a press notice about the 2009 Festival of Falconry (near Reading, 11-12 July). I attended this event two years ago (report here), and found it fascinating - a great day out for anyone with an interest in conservation and the countryside, whether or not you're into falconry. More details here...

And why the headline about 'missing a trick'? Well, it seems Arab falconry is making a submission to have falconry recognised by UNESCO as an 'Intangible Cultural Heritage'. Says the press release: 'Arab falconers will be on hand to explain how their desert heritage binds them together - linking past with present and future life.'

Well, if falconry can do it, what about shooting? OK, we spend a lot of our time looking back only as far as the Victorian era, but the history, traditions and heritage of shooting go back way further than that - and nothing could be more fundamental to our past than hunting and gathering wild food. As I've said before, we are living history - and we should make more of it!

Sporting Shooter podcast - episode 3

In episode 3, we talk to Nick Kester about falconry at the Falconry Festival near Reading. We also discuss the cancellation of the CLA Game Fair and other effects of the recent bad weather. And we announce the winner of the Sporting Shooter Beater of the Year Award. Music by The Pubcrawlers at podsafeaudio.com.

Festival of Falconry

I visited this amazing one-off event today. Two impressions really stand out: First, the majesty of the birds themselves, from the tiniest hawk to this impressive golden eagle. And second, the sense of culture and tradition surrounding this sport, with falconers from all over the world coming together in a colourful melee of birds, dogs, horses (even camels) and traditional costume - the stands included Bedouin tents and Far Eastern yurts, as well as the more familiar game fair style canvas shedding.



I can't help feeling that some of our traditional sports in Britain have rather lost their roots. Perhaps we should resurrect some old shooting and hunting songs, and invite a few indigenous hunters from around the world to parade at the CLA Game Fair??



One thing that didn't surprise me was to learn that DEFRA are all over falconry like a rash, with countless forms and licences and approvals and best practice guidelines. Thank heavens they don't leave it up to us. Can you imagine what a mess we'd make of things?!