General Secretary of Moroccan Association of Al Noubala Falconers warns falconry will vanish unless North African country takes serious measures to preserve it.
Moroccan falconers took part in the Second International Festival of Falconry which is held in Al Ain City in Abu Dhabi, the UAE.
Abdelhak Chaouni, General Secretary of the Moroccan Association of Al Noubala Falconers, said that Falconry in Morocco is a traditional hobby that has existed for over 12 centuries.
“The Beni Hilal tribe brought falconry with them from the Middle East when they settled in the Maghreb in the 12th century. They kept practicing it until Morocco’s independence from France,” said Chaouni who is a pharmacist.
However, falconry has dwindled throughout the years due the mass rural exodus into the cities and d the lack of regulations on hunting prey, which makes it harder for falconers to go after them.
“Haj Saeed El Bayaz and his son (the first died in 1975 and the second in late 2011) have been struggling to keep this heritage alive despite the lack of moral and financial support from the Moroccan authorities,” said Chaouni.
“Haj Saeed used to practice falconry on his horse,” an ancient style of falconry that is vanishing today because of the hunt with four-wheel drives in the desert.
Chaouni lamented the lack of the government’s support to promote and preserve this ancient heritage, which was registered on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity thanks to the UAE-led international efforts.
Chaouni warned that this ancient heritage would vanish unless the Moroccan authorities take serious steps to save it from extinction and set out a plan to preserve and promote falconry throughout the country.
Falconer Ali El Houthi from Al Jadida, Morocco said that this hobby had been inherited from father to son throughout many generations.
Houthi thanked the UAE for ogranising the Festival, which comes after 35 years when the First International Falconry Conference (IFC), which was inaugurated by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in December 1976 in order to preserve falconry as an important element of the UAE national heritage.
Ali reckons that there are between 40 and 50 falconers in Morocco who are affiliated to only two falconry associations.
However, Ali said that “what is strikingly unbelievable is that Falconry is being practiced in Morocco under the old law left by the French during the colonization era.”
The Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts (High Commission in Waters and Forests) is not enforcing rules on hunters to respect the ethics of hunting prey, which makes it difficult for falconers to practice this priceless and historic heritage,” Said the 38 year-old Moroccan.
