Abu Dhabi: 2,274 falcons have been returned back into nature following the successful 30th anniversary of the Sheikh Zayed Falcon Release Programme (SZFRP) in May.
This total includes both Saker and Peregrine falcons, which have faced environmental pressures over the past 30 years.
Established the program in 1995 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and with the follow-up of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan launched the initiative.
![Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi](https://cdn.emiratitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/14161436/Sheikh-Zayed-Falcon-Release-Program.jpg)
With assistance from the Office of the Special Affairs Adviser Office – Presidential Court, the UAE Embassy in Kazakhstan, and the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) and Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital (ADFH), EAD oversees the program’s execution.
This year, in its thirty-first iteration, the initiative effectively released sixty-three falcons—thirty-eight Peregrine and twenty-five Saker—under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan’s Forestry and Wildlife Committee.
The release occurred inside the migratory range of these falcons, which includes portions of neighboring China, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. These regions are distinguished by their rough terrain, which includes wide plains and mountains that make for perfect environments rich in food that falcons can consume.
![Sheikh Zayed Falcon Release Programme](https://cdn.emiratitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/14161600/EAD-Launches-ADERN-1.jpg)
HE Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi, Vice Chairman of EAD and Vice Chairman of IFHC, said that, “Abu Dhabi and the UAE continue to lead nature conservation and protection of wildlife, in particular the internationally acclaimed efforts to conserve falcons, houbara and other wildlife species of ecological, cultural and historical importance. This is in order to increase their opportunities to overcome threats to their survival and prosper in the wild, in our pursuit of sustaining the historical heritage of falconry.”