Asif Ali Sandeelo, third-year Integrative Conservation (ICON) and Anthropology student, recently gave a poster presentation at the international Pathways Conference 2023 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. This year the conference theme was Managing Wildlife in an Era of Mutualism, and aimed to address the complex issues emerging from interaction and interplay of people and wildlife in diverse places and habitats. During the conference, Asif shared the key findings from his preliminary research for his PhD project. He briefed the participants about falconry hunting practiced by Middle Eastern elites in Pakistan and shared how it impacted the conservation work, foreign policy, and wildlife laws of Pakistan. His poster presentation was well attended by the participants, including students, faculty members, researchers, and practitioners.
Asif’s PhD research project explores the interface of conservation and politics through a case study of elite falconry. It asks how humans and non-humans co-construct diplomacy and shape foreign policy, and in turn, how this influences the conservation narratives and practices.
This preliminary research was supported by the UGA Graduate School, CICR, Department of Anthropology, and The Rufford Foundation.