President Milanović Receives Croatian Falconer’s Club on the Occasion of Inclusion of Falconry on UNESCO’s List of Intangible World Heritage

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović received today members of the Croatian Falconer’s Club on the occasion of Croatian falconry being inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  At UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2021, falconry in Croatia was joined to the multinational nomination which includes: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Morocco, Mongolia, Netherlands, Germany, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Slovakia, Spain and United Arab Emirates.

As members of the Croatian Falconer’s Club explained, the long tradition of falconry in Croatia contributed to the inclusion in that prestigious list, as well as falconry, which is still present today thanks to the involvement of the Croatian Falconer’s Club founded in Karlovac in 2007. In addition to the historical and cultural aspect of falconry, the members of the Club informed President Milanović of the economic role of falconry, for example in tourism. Falconers also work on the breeding, protection, hunting and use of game, which, in addition to the economic function, also includes the function of protecting and preserving the biological and ecological balance of natural game habitats, nurturing hunting ethics and customs, and protecting nature and the human environment.

Falconry is the oldest hunting discipline in which game is hunted with a trained bird of prey in a natural environment, and as a traditional Croatian hunting method, it also plays a major role in protecting birds of prey, Croatian falconers pointed out. They added that falconry in Croatia has a long and solid tradition since the time when it was brought to these areas by the Illyrians and spread by the Celts, and that it has been held for the longest time in the areas of the Dubrovnik Republic.

Attending the meeting from the Croatian Falconer’s Club were the president of the Croatian Falconer’s Club of Karlovac Viktor Šegrt, the vice-president of the Croatian Falconer’s Club of Istria Hari Herak, the secretary of the Croatian Falconer’s Club of Međimurje Zlatko Habuš, the former secretary of the Croatian Falconer’s Club Ivan Horvat, member of the Croatian Falconer’s Club of Istria David Herak, member of the Croatian Falconer’s Club of Međimurje Ivana Horvat and future falconer of Karlovac Maks Šegrt, who brought along with them to the Office of the President three falconry birds: a bald eagle, a barn owl and a Harris’s hawk.

Alongside President Milanović was the Commissioner of the President for Sports Željko Jovanović.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek