ABU DHABI: Emirates Falconers Club hosts on Monday a global conference on the role of indigenous people and local communities in linking intangible cultural heritage and wildlife conservation.
Based on the theme, “Sustainability and Heritage . . . A Reborn Aspiration,” the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center welcomes 24 young falconers (aged 18 to 30), representing 24 countries, to participate in the conference between Sept. 26 and Oct. 2, the Emirates News Agency reported.
Emirates Falconers Club is organizing the conference in cooperation with the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF), UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Chairman of the conference’s higher organizing committee, Majid Ali Al-Mansouri, and secretary-general of Emirates Falconers Club, said that the event aims to bring together UAE-based experts, researchers and participants to promote sustainable use, which plays a pivotal role in preserving the environment.
The seven-day conference will highlight IUCN’s role and establish a link with the UNESCO Commission on Intangible Cultural Heritage to make use of communities’ readiness to support heritage and environment preservation efforts.
Encouraging communications between falconers and indigenous people and local communities, and promoting falconry and correcting misinformation about it, will be among the conference’s main goals.
The event also aims to encourage cultural approaches to restore ecosystems through sustainable use, recognize the role of falconry as an important heritage in local and indigenous communities, as well as the leading role falconers can play in achieving heritage conservation and preservation goals.
The conference will outline the role of the IAF in promoting the legal practice of falconry and focus on conservation portals and student education projects through cooperation with schools, and the International Falconry Festival, highlighting the UAE’s commitment to preserving and promoting falconry around the world.
UAE to host global conference on falconry
https://arab.news/937cm
UAE to host global conference on falconry
- Emirates Falconers Club organizes conference on role of local communities in heritage preservation
- Event aims to bring together UAE-based experts, researchers and participants to promote sustainable use
Syrian government says it controls prison in Raqqa with Daesh-linked detainees
- Prison holds detainees linked to Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity between advancing Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters
Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Friday it had taken over Al-Aktan prison in the city of Raqqa in northeastern Syria, a facility that was formerly under the control of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The prison has been holding detainees linked to the militant group Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity this week between advancing Syrian government forces and the SDF.
It was not immediately clear how many Daesh detainees remain in Al-Aktan prison as the US military has started transferring up to 7,000 prisoners linked to the militant Islamist group from Syrian jails to neighboring Iraq. US officials say the detainees are citizens of many countries, including in Europe.
“Specialized teams were formed from the counter-terrorism department and other relevant authorities to take over the tasks of guarding and securing the prison and controlling the security situation inside it,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Under a sweeping integration deal agreed on Sunday, responsibility for prisons housing Daesh detainees was meant to be transferred to the Syrian government.
The SDF said on Monday it was battling Syrian government forces near Al-Aktan and that the seizure of the prison by the government forces “could have serious security repercussions that threaten stability and pave the way for a return to chaos and terrorism.”
The US transfer of Daesh prisoners follows the rapid collapse of Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria. Concerns over prison security intensified after the escape on Tuesday of roughly 200 low-level Daesh fighters from Syria’s Shaddadi prison. Syrian government forces later recaptured many of them.
