Proposed Hawk Board UNESCO Application for the National Inventory

9 Mar

Title.Falconry and raptor keeping

1. Short description

Please describe your element as if a friend / family member with no prior knowledge of the element asked you to tell them about it.

The Hawk Board represents all raptor keepers in the UK who use birds of prey for their traditional use in falconry a hunting art, breeding, conservation, education, centres, shows, displays, rehabilitation, pest control, racing and as a hobby. This encompasses thousands of practitioners, falconry clubs and falconry related members.

2. Please tell us more information about your element

Please include details about: Who the community of practice is (including active participants and knowledge bearers, and/or your audience, if relevant); Where it takes place (including any connections to other parts of the UK or internationally); How often your element is practised; Any associated objects such as the tools, instruments, costumes, materials or products; and If there are any commercial activities relating to your element - how do they benefit the community. Please note, brand names or trademarks should not be included unless they are part of the title of the living heritage.

We represent those UK wide practising the art of Falconry (the traditional art of hunting quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of trained birds of prey) using native, non-native and hybrid raptors. Falconers developed breeding techniques for raptors and are now self-sufficient, no longer needing wild-sourced birds. UK breeders are internationally respected for the quality of the raptors they produce, supporting falconry traditions worldwide.

Hawk Board and its members work on conservation of British raptors, such as restoring the Goshawk, Red Kite and Barn Owl, as well as international species of raptors. Falconry centres provide displays and courses, and many rehabilitate injured raptors. The Houses of Parliament, airports and landfill sites are protected by professional pest controllers using eco-friendly raptors. Falconers visit schools, often with live birds to provide real life experience. Others meet to fly their birds, while many enjoy interacting with them as a hobby, establishing personal relationships like Helen Macdonald’s in ‘H is for Hawk’.

Traditional falconry equipment, such as hoods and jesses whose design dates back hundreds of years, are still used today and produced by craftsmen. Now supplemented by modern technology such as GPS tracking and training drones.

3. Do you consider the element to be endangered, e.g. likely to die out?

Select one option:

No - your element is currently viable(it is in a healthy state and the skills / know-how are being passed to the next generation)

Yes - your element is endangered(the skills / know how can be passed on but there are serious concerns about their ongoing viability)

Yes - your element is critically endangered(there is a serious risk that the skills / know how won't be passed on and there are very few practitioners remaining)

4. Please outline information relating to your element's safeguarding

Please include details about: The history of how long it has been practised and how it has been passed on to now. How it is currently passed on and if there are any risks to it.

The earliest evidence of Falconry is probably the stone cross at Bewcastle, dated 670 CE. Throughout our history falconry was a popular pastime until the development of sporting firearms in the 18th Century when the art declined. Although continuing in an unbroken cultural thread with a renaissance in the 1960s by domestically-bred raptors becaming widely available.

Falconry continues to this day throughout the UK, adapting to local conditions. Many traditional falconry practices, such as swinging a lure for a falcon, cannot be learned from books; it must be taught one to one. These practices have been passed from one generation to the next over hundreds of years. Present day falconers learning from falconers like Phillip Glasier, who was taught by Capt. Charles Knight, who was taught by Gerald Lascelles, Secretary to the Old Hawking Club in the 1870s. A lineage going back to the Tudors, Plantagenets and earlier.

Falconry has a massive heritage of literature and art, supplemented now by films, courses and online resources, whilst the traditional teaching methods remain the most important and valued. The falconry community is welcoming and supportive of all new participants irrespective of background, sex or ethnicity and information and guidance is freely given.

5. Please outline how you have gathered free, prior and informed consent from the community in more detail

Please explain how the practising community has consented to your element of living heritage being submitted to the inventories. Please include details about: How you have engaged the community of your element in the submission process; Whether there are any concerns amongst the community(ies) in submitting your element to the inventory(ies).

The Hawk Board includes representatives from almost all the clubs and associations and meets four times a year. It has six democratically elected Specialist members and consultants who meet on an ongoing basis online to cover issues and represent them to government departments. The Hawk Board has a website and Facebook page and frequently posts on public forums for comments and feedback. In addition, we hold conferences and seminars to which unaffiliated practitioners are invited.

Given that Falconry: A Living Heritage is inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List on behalf of 24 countries, UK practitioners are universally keen to see UK Falconry become the 25th inscription. This and earlier drafts of this submission have been circulated to our membership and posted on social media and refined following feedback.

6. Is there any additional information you would like to provide?

Falconry is an ancient practice that has always adapted to current circumstances and continues to do so - yet its core values and principles remain unchanged and would be recognised by falconers from centuries past.

We have a proud history dating back to the advent of wildlife conservation, and falconers remain passionate about the environment within which they are active participants. The ability to adapt to change whilst maintaining the traditions of falconry, and to use them to introduce future generations to wildlife and an environment that increasingly requires sympathetic attention, is a privilege that deserves recognition.

Falconry equipment making features on the List of Endangered Heritage Crafts https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/ but has undergone a revival in recent years. Other links include:

The Hawk Board: www.hawkboard.uk

British Archives of Falconry: www.britisharchivesoffalconry.org

British Falconers’ Club: www.britishfalconersclub.co.uk

British Falcon Racing Association: www.britishfalconracing.co.uk

Cheshire and North Wales Hawking Club: www.canwhc.co.uk

Falconry Heritage Trust: www.falconryheritage.org

Irish Hawking Club: www.irishhawkingclub.org

Raptor Breeders UK: https://rbuk.org/

Scottish Hawking Club

South Eastern Raptors Association

South East Falconry Group: www.sefg.org.uk

Welsh Hawking Club: www.welshhawkingclub.org