Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi partners with Japan’s Suwa Falconry Preservation Society to preserve a shared falconry heritage

Abu Dhabi, 4 September 2026: The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Suwa Falconry Preservation Society (SFPS) on the sidelines of the 23rd Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX 2026), establishing a long-term partnership to restore one of Japan's oldest living falconry traditions and strengthen the cultural ties between Abu Dhabi and Japan.

The SFPS is the custodian of Suwa-ryū falconry, one of Japan's oldest documented lineages, dating back to the Tokugawa Shogunate period of the 17th to 19th centuries and now carried into its 18th generation of master falconers. It preserves the tradition through an apprenticeship open to practitioners of any background. Under the MoU, and following a joint site assessment conducted in January 2026, EAD will provide support towards core infrastructure and essential repairs at the society's 150-year-old training centre, which trains around 25 students each month.

The agreement also establishes an annual cultural exchange, under which SFPS will host young Emirati falconers each year for training in traditional Japanese falconry, alongside joint workshops, student engagement and research collaboration.

The partnership links two nations that share falconry as a defining element of their cultural identity, pairing Abu Dhabi's decades of scientific raptor conservation with Japan's centuries-old falconry practice.

Her Excellency Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary General of EAD, said: “Falconry is a living tradition that belongs to no single nation, it belongs to those who keep it alive. Supporting Suwa is an investment in shared values of discipline, respect for birds of prey, and the passing of knowledge between generations. Abu Dhabi and EAD have been at the forefront of raptor research and the protection of falconry for more than three decades, and through this partnership we will continue to safeguard that heritage alongside the traditions and cultures linked to it.”

Noriko Otsuka, President of the Suwa Falconry Preservation Society and 18th-generation grandmaster of the Suwa school of Japanese falconry, said: “For 150 years our society has kept this tradition alive through the dedication of each generation of falconers. This partnership with EAD safeguards the knowledge, the birds and the practice for the future, and opens a lasting exchange between two of the world's great falconry cultures.”

Falconry runs deep in Abu Dhabi's identity. For the people of the Arabian Peninsula, it began as a means of survival, with falconers training falcons to hunt before releasing them back to the wild at the end of each season, and over centuries it grew into an art defined by patience, by the trust between falconer and bird, and by a body of knowledge on raptor health, training and handling passed down through generations. The UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who practised falconry from a young age, made the protection of falconry and its birds a cornerstone of the nation's development, framing the practice as inseparable from conservation and shaping the institutions that define Emirati falconry today. Building on that legacy, the UAE went on to help lead the international effort that saw falconry inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

That cultural leadership is matched by an equally deep record in raptor conservation. For nearly thirty years, Abu Dhabi has hosted the UNEP-CMS Office in Abu Dhabi, established in 2009 to support the Raptors MoU protecting migratory birds of prey across Europe, Africa and Asia, and has advanced migratory raptor research, including Saker Falcon recovery in Mongolia through an artificial nest-box project, backed by the Mohamed bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund. Over the same period, the Sheikh Zayed Falcon Release Programme has released more than 2,400 falcons across Central Asia, supported by institutions the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, the world's largest facility of its kind. It is this combination of a living cultural practice backed by scientific conservation that Abu Dhabi now brings to its partnership with Suwa.

The partnership builds on existing cooperation between Abu Dhabi and Japan, including the Emirates Falconers' Club (EFC) – INPEX JODCO partnership, the EAD – INPEX JODCO Raptor Agreement and falcon exchange programme, and joint documentary work with Tokyo MX. Together, these efforts support a longer-term ambition to help bring Suwa falconry towards the same international recognition that the UAE has championed for the tradition worldwide.