Magyar Hírek, 1987 (40. évfolyam, 1-23. szám)
1987-02-07 / 3. szám
Ute dngiafeffi featg FALCONS AT SZARVAS Environment protection An interview with Zoltán Rakonczay, Deputy Chairman of the National Bureau for the Protection of Environment and Nature “The accusation that we were late to seriously engage in environment and nature protection is often voiced in Hungary. Is this true in fact?" “The problem is not that simple. As far as environmental protection legislation is concerned. Hungary was in no way left behind, but in practice we started one hundred years late, it is a fact, that plans to declare more than one hundred natural objects as protected were ready by the summer of 1914. "Did we begin to make up for the delay caused by the two world wars? “Only starting with 1972. At the moment we have 4 national parks, 96 districts under regional protection and 100 protected areas with the result that 5 per (jent of the territory of Hungary is protected. The picture is far from being complete, though. There are also 1,800 protected caves, 340 species of protected plants and 571 species of protected animals including birds. VVe have every hope that by 1990 every area needing it will be protected.” "Measured by international standards where does Hungary stand in the f ield of environment protection?” “Taking all in all, we are in the middle of the field. The trouble is that when our environment protection is compared with our own possibilities and requirements, it is unequivocally weak and backward. It is also worrying that in relation to our past the situation is continuously deteriorating.” "What could possibly explain this?" “Hungarian environment protection legislation and the institutional system arc adequate, thus one should look for the reason in the resources, t he customs and attitudes. Take the resources: Hungary is densely populated. An overwhelming proportion of the land is under cultivation. There are few forests, or virgin tracts. Unfortunately, we can’t boast of planty of rainfall either. Let us examine water first of all: 80 per cent of the inhabitants use mains water, and this is a great achievement. But at the same time only about 50 per cent of the sewage goes to treatment stations, and only 30 per cent of the homes are connected to the sewage networks. The balance of the sewage goes into private pits, and seeps through the soil all over the place. Unfortunately, the future is not heartening either. By 1990 about 90 per cent of the inhabitants will be using mains water, but in spite of continuous development and investments only 35 per cent of the inhabitants will have access to sowers.” “What about the protection of soil?” “The protection of the soil is an issue of vital importance; 70 per cent of the territory of Hungary is cultivated, and we produce food for twice as many people as live in the country. The land around the Szarvas arboretum was filled with the screaming and screching of peregrine falcons, gyr falcons, red-tail hawks, kites, golden eagles and kestrels. Some one hundred and thirty people from twelve countries — including fifty Hungarian falconers — gathered there at the international meeting of falconers organized by the Falconers’ Section of the Hungarian Ornithological Association. * The company was taken to the outskirts of the town by motor transport. From there they still had a good walk across the fields. Most falconers carried videos or cameras with telescopic lenses, slung on their shoulder; one of them placed a tiny two-way radio between the wings of his bird. Then the hunt began. The first to try his bird was Jürgen Nicolau, who owns a sporting equipment shop in Strass - bourg (and who is an ex Judo worldchampion). The dogs flushed a pheasant, and the falconer took the dark leather hood off the eyes of his bird. The chase, which we could hardly follow with the naked eye, began. A horaeman stood in readiness next to us: once "the falcon succeeds in brighing down the pheasant he must gallop there immediately, for if the bird has a good feed of his prey he would not return. This time, however, the pheasant got away. The falconer used the traditional method and waved a piece of meat, to lure back his bird. The stakes are high in this game. A young peregrine falcon is worth about $ 50.000. After half an hour of coaxing, the bird of prey landed gracefully on the gloved hand of his master. * in my instance falcons play a role even in my research,” he added. “There is an anti-coagulant in the human body the lack of which could cause haemophilia. The same component is present also in the blood of the falcon, but the absence of it does not make them haemophilic. Currently we are carrying out experiments concerning this.” “1 believe foreign falconers like to come to Hungary also because they are not received here by demonstrating nature protectors as in numerous countries in Western Europe” I said. “This is really so” Professor Ambrus admitted, “the fact is that we falconers are protecting this species of birds; we are working out new methods for breeding them in captivity. The only way we can save the peregrine population of the United States, for instance, is this. The gradual dying out of birds of prey throughout the world is caused by the use of herbicides and pesticides.” The professor, head of a hospital has seven children. They all took their degree in the United States. All seven of them speak perfect Hungarian. And all of them indulge in some branch of hunting, falconry being the cup of tea of the ‘patriarch.’ Adam halAzs PHOTOS: ESZTER REZES MOLNÁR, ADAM BALÁZS “Falconing is a sport, a cultivation of traditions and a hobby all at once” remarks Professor Gyula Ambrus, Director of the Institute of Cancel’ Research, Roswell Park Memorial Hospital, Buffalo, Indiana. “Indeed, 30
