## **ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST**
## **THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
**The globally threatened Egyptian Vulture,** _Neophron percnopterus_ **a bird found throughout the OSME Region which featured in many of our Conservation activities in 2021**
**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
## **CONTENTS**
Reference and Administrative Details . . . . . . 3 Structure, Governance and Management . . . 4 Chairman’s Review of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Treasurer’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Independent Examiner’s Report . . . . . . . . . . .14 Statement of Financial Activities . . . . . . . . . . .15 Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Notes to the Financial Statements . . . . . . . . . .17
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
## **Reference and Administrative details**
**Name of Charity:** Central Asia (OSME) **Charity Number:** 282938 **Principal Address:** The Society does not have a principal office address as all activities and Council meetings are undertaken at the private addresses of Council members or other equivalent locations. The mail forwarding address: OSME, c/o The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL is used for general correspondence. **Email:** info@osme.org **Website:** www.osme.org **Bankers:** Lloyds Bank plc 35 High Street Biggleswade Bedfordshire SG18 0JD **Independent Examiner:** Michael C Jennings Warners Farm House Warners Drove Somersham Cambridgeshire PE28 3WD
## **The OSME Council in 2021:**
## **Trustees: Co-opted:**
Sajidah Ahmad (Secretary) AbdulRahman Al-Sirhan (Webmaster) Mike Blair (OSME Region List) Effie Warr (Membership and Sales)
Paul Donald ( _Sandgrouse_ Editor)
Tomas Haraldsson (Youth Officer)
Ian Harrison Chris Hughes (Joint Treasurer) Georgia Locock Robert Sheldon (Chair) Paul Stancliffe
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
The Ornithological Society of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia, also known as OSME, is registered with the English Charity Commission (No. 282938) and governed under a constitution adopted 17 June 1981 and amended 10 June 2010. A Council of trustees elected by the members manages the affairs of the Society. There are no restrictions on membership of the Society subject to payment of the appropriate subscription.
The elected Council members serve for a period of five years. New Council members are nominated by paid-up members and are elected to office at the Annual General Meeting which was held online this year on Saturday 19th of June. Council has the power to co-opt additional members at any time where a specific need is identified and where the appropriate commitment cannot be found from amongst its numbers.
The elected Council is supported by two specialist sub-committees, the Editorial Board and the Conservation Fund Committee. The Editorial Board assists the Editor of _Sandgrouse_ in compiling the content of each issue and the content of any supplementary publications according to a budget set by Council at the start of the year. The Conservation Fund Committee receives and reviews all grant applications made through a formal application procedure and makes recommendations to Council. All decisions on the allocation of funds to conservation projects are made by, and are the responsibility of, the elected Council.
The Society has no employees and owns no property or fixed assets; all the functions of an active and fully-compliant charity are performed by Council members working voluntarily with their own resources and from their own premises. This voluntary and low administrative cost approach enables the Charity to maximise the amounts expended on charitable activities and the Society recognises this very significant contribution with gratitude.
To assist them in understanding their responsibilities, all trustees are directed towards regular reference to the Charity Commission website. Council met formally three times during the year. Before each meeting, officers’ reports were circulated to all Council members for information on the subjects under discussion and for the benefit of those not attending.
The Minutes of each formal meeting were circulated to all trustees and co-opted Council members soon after the meeting. Interaction between Council members in between formal meetings was by email through an email group. Most of these exchanges were seen by all trustee Council members and all co-opted Council members regardless of their involvement with the matter in hand.
A Risk Register is maintained so that Council members can identify the risks in their designated area of responsibility. No reportable incidents occurred during the year. However, Council remains aware of the need for continuous vigilance and review of all risk management procedures in place.
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
This year, Council has continued to address issues of governance and the provision of replacement in the event of incapacity of key trustees or co-opted Council members. Council recognises the general need to spread the administrative workload of the Society more evenly, and the need to reduce the concentration of key functions in a single incumbent working without deputy or understudy.
The Society acknowledges that it lacks the administrative and financial resources to embark on major projects and restricts itself to providing financial assistance to others, rather than organising and directing projects itself. It does not get involved with project details, except in an advisory role at the application stage, and is particularly careful to limit second-stage payments and commitments which carry forward to future years. In all its deliberations, the Society pays due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit in deciding the activities it should undertake.
## **Objectives and Activities**
The object of the Charity is to promote a greater public understanding of Middle Eastern, Caucasian and Central Asian ornithology and thereby to encourage and facilitate conservation of the region's birds. This is achieved by the twice-yearly publication of a scientific journal, _Sandgrouse_ , the holding of meetings, presence at events, the maintenance of a website, an active presence on social media, and the funding of fieldwork and other projects. Grants are awarded to approved projects from the funds of the Society and applicants are encouraged to submit their findings for publication in _Sandgrouse_ .
The Constitution recognises four main categories of charitable activity:
1. Collect, collate, publish and disseminate ornithological data on countries in the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
2. Publish a biannual journal of research and conservation results – _Sandgrouse._
3. Encourage interest in birds in the area.
4. Work with other individuals and organisations with similar objectives and pursuing charitable activities concerned with ornithology in the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
## **Chairman’s Review of the Year**
The year 2021 will undoubtedly be remembered for the continuation of the global Covid pandemic which continues to affect so many people all over the world. As with many small charities, the unprecedented situation threw up many challenges that impacted the work of OSME, both negatively and positively. However, due to the continued diligent management of our finances and the ongoing support of OSME members, we had another very successful year with continued growth in our conservation work across the region.
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
## **The Conservation Fund**
Our flagship Conservation Fund had yet another record breaking year with £22,925 awarded to nine projects during 2021:
- Batumi Raptor monitoring (Georgia £2,950)
- Determining and updating the status of Owls in Jordan (Jordan £2,900)
- Decreasing mortality rate of Egyptian Vultures during migration in Turkey (Turkey £3,500)
- Identifying migration routes and wintering sites of Egyptian Vultures breeding in Uzbekistan (Uzbekistan £3,000)
- Local stewardship of Eastern Imperial Eagles of Thrace (Turkey £2,500)
- Conservation of the western population of the Great Bustard in Turkey (£2,000)
- Monitoring and advocating for key steppe birds in Kyrgyzstan’s Tulek Valley IBA (Kyrgyzstan £2,575)
- Annual monitoring of Sociable Lapwing migration through Kumo-Manych depression (Russian Federation £1,000)
- A study of Snowfinches for mountain conservation in the Greater Caucasus (Georgia £2,500)
This continued growth in our expenditure is partly due to the ongoing financial support we receive from the March Conservation Fund as well as increasing donations from our members and supporters. We were pleased that in 2021 we were able to collaborate with Birds on the Brink to co-fund the Egyptian Vulture project in Turkey. We are keen to develop similar joint funding initiatives in future.
There are now just three countries within our region yet to receive a grant through the OSME Conservation Fund: Kuwait, Qatar and Turkmenistan. We are actively looking to support projects in these countries and would welcome discussions with potential applicants. Huge thanks go to our independent committee for reviewing all project applications and making recommendations to OSME Council. Throughout 2021 the committee was chaired by Dr Maxim Koshkin with expert input from Dr Nabegh Ghazal Aswad, Sharif Jbour, Richard Porter, Hana Raza and Maia Sarrouf Willson. After many years of advice and support Richard Porter stepped down at the end of 2021 and we welcome Dr Alyona Koshkina to the Conservation Fund committee.
## **Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund**
The 2022 Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund grant has been awarded to the Biodiversity Research and Conservation Centre Community Trust (BRCC) in Kazakhstan for the ‘protection of Saker Falcon and Egyptian Vulture in the Karatau Mountains, South Kazakhstan.’ The award was announced at the OSME Winter Meeting where the project leader, Nurlan Ongarbayev, outlined the project. The focus will be in the Karatau Mountains where both species are known to breed although there is little data on numbers, distribution and nesting behaviour. The key threats to the population are not well understood although there is some information that electrocution could be a key issue. In September 2020 Nurlan surveyed a 60-km length of overhead powerlines and located the remains of six Saker Flacons, nine Long-legged Buzzards,
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
eleven Steppe Eagles and one Golden Eagle. The project aims to understand more about the distribution of the target species, assess the key threats and propose mitigation measures. OSME is delighted to support this project which focuses on two globally endangered species that are found throughout the OSME Region. This is the third Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund grant that has been awarded following on from projects in Turkey (Egyptian Vulture) and Lebanon (Syrian Serin). Trevor was a giant of ornithological publishing, joint founder of the renowned publishers T&AD Poyser famous for their ground-breaking books particularly the Species Monograph series. Very sadly Trevor died in 2018 but he kindly left us a significant legacy to spend on research and conservation within the OSME region so the fund was established in his memory.
## **The Youth Development Fund**
Our Youth Development Fund launched in 2019 continued to develop existing projects and well as initiate new ones. This work is co-ordinated by Tomas Haraldsson, OSME’s Youth Development Officer. Many of the projects rely on getting people together at ‘bird camps’ often with the support of international experts but this approach has had to adapt since the start of the pandemic. We had another record-breaking year with expenditure exceeding £7,500 and it is pleasing to see a number of donations being specifically made to support this area of OSME’s work:
- Batumi Young Falconers (Georgia £2,000)
- Lebanon Autumn migration camp (Lebanon £500)
- Besh Barmag Global Big Day (Azerbaijan £809)
- Aswan Bird Camp (Egypt £2,000)
- Cyprus Bird Camp (Cyprus 2,200)
It is impressive to see several projects continuing under local leadership which is a key aim of our youth development work. Fauna & Flora International (FFI) in Georgia received a follow up grant to fund their important work with young falconers to help shift the local interest away from unsustainable (and illegal) trapping and hunting to conservation of raptors in Georgia. Co-leader of the project is OSME supported member Aslan Bolkvadze. The group visited raptor sites, wetlands and villages and learnt about raptor identification, conservation and what local practices might be harmful to nature. A long-planned bird camp in Cyprus, hosted by Kuskor and supported by three young birdwatchers form BirdLife Sweden took place in October 2021. The weekend saw the group participate in bird ringing (including handling the endemic Cyprus Scops Owl!), learn about monitoring seabirds on islands by boat and exchange ideas and views about important conservation issues.
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
Another bird camp that has taken years to get off the ground was held in Aswan, Egypt in December. Aswan is the main city in southern Egypt, adjacent to the river Nile and next to important bird areas such as Lake Nasser and the lagoons and wetlands of the Nile Valley. Local young birdwatchers, and ecotourism enterprise and national BirdLife partner Nature Conservation Egypt (NCE) teamed up and held an excellent weekend of training and awareness raising activities.
## **Sandgrouse**
Two bumper issues of our highly respected journal _Sandgrouse_ were published totalling 340 pages.
_**Sandgrouse 43 (1) Sandgrouse 43 (2)**_
The spring issue was themed around bird migration in the OSME region and included a review of migratory soaring bird monitoring in the East African-Eurasian flyway. The paper highlighted the excellent long-term monitoring at the Batumi bottleneck in Georgia, a hugely important project that needs ongoing support, and which OSME are proud to have helped over the years, It was also pleasing to see several projects funded by OSME’s Conservation Fund publishing their papers in _Sandgrouse,_ including the status of Golden Eagles in Oman, White-headed Ducks in Turkey and Sociable Lapwings in south-west Russia.
## **Online meetings**
In 2020 we moved all of our meetings to an online format and this approach continued throughout 2021 with our summer meeting and AGM both held using Zoom. Due to the popularity of the online meetings, enabling members and supporters from across the OSME region to participate, we also held our first online winter meeting. One of the key benefits of moving meetings online is the ability to attract speakers from across the region, to share their
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
research and conservation work and to reach an international audience. The two online meetings in 2021 included speakers from Egypt, Iraq, Oman, Syria, Turkey and Uzbekistan; such a diversity of contributors (and participants) would not be possible if the meetings were held face to face. All presentations form the online meetings are available on our YouTube channel. A massive thankyou to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) for allowing OSME to use their Zoom conferencing facilities. All Council meetings throughout 2021 were also held using Zoom and it is likely that this will remain the dominant format in the future.
## **The OSME e-newsletter**
A key development in 2021 was the launch of the new quarterly OSME e-newsletter with the first issue distributed to subscribers in February. The newsletter is free to both members and nonmembers alike and aims to provide project updates and news from across the OSME region. The newsletter is produced and edited by newly co-opted Council member (and long-standing OSME member) Phil Roberts and by Council member Georgia Locock. By the end of the year there were over 400 subscribers.
## **OSME Digital**
The OSME Facebook page went from strength to strength and passed 4,000 followers in December and our Twitter feed now has in excess of 5,000 followers.
During 2021 a significant amount of effort was out into developing more multi language content on Facebook to reach a wider audience from across the region and we now have guest co-editors sharing posts and updates in Arabic, Georgian, Turkish and Russian, We are also invested in upgrading and updating our free Birds of the Middle East App which continues to be downloaded across the region.
Digital Sandgrouse: We now have over 200 subscribers to the digital version of Sandgrouse over fifty of whom ask to receive _Sandgrouse_ only in its digital form. The digital edition has been particularly successful in reaching those areas of our region with compromised postal services and for many members the green credentials have been the most important issue. Postal costs across the world are rocketing and each digital edition requested saves us on average around £15 per year money that could be focussed on our conservation and education activity. Any member is free to sample by emailing sandgrousedigital@osme.org
## **OSME Region List**
The Society publishes the OSME Region List (ORL) of birds that considers the latest taxonomy and new information on species distribution. This is based on the worldwide IOC (International Ornithological Community) list to which OSME Council member Mike Blair is an adviser. The ORL is freely available from the OSME website and is updated regularly. This very significant undertaking is well regarded by researchers, organisations and individual birdwatchers across and beyond the region.
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
The ORL seeks to provide a consistent and up-to-date taxonomy of all bird species and subspecies for the OSME region to support a common approach for those working in ornithology and those studying birds collected or observed. (Relevant bird collections exist worldwide.) This underpins the aim of the first category of our charitable activities which is to collect, collate, publish and disseminate ornithological data on countries in the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Taxonomic understanding through avian molecular research techniques is developing at a fast rate and the ORL reflects recent research, mostly as analysed by IOC and similar authorities, but also has access to original scientific papers published worldwide.
The ORL taxonomy is used in _Sandgrouse_ but is also freely available on the OSME website to researchers and amateurs who are interested in birds. The ORL has been downloaded in well over 100 countries.
## **And finally**
Despite the upheaval created by the global pandemic, OSME’s finances remain robust and this is a reflection of the excellent stewardship of our accounts by John Warr and Chris Hughes (CoTreasurers). All OSME Council members continue to devote significant time and energy to the work of our small but effective charity. There is lots more that we can do to promote the joy of birds, birdwatching and conservation across the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia and we are always looking for more members of Council – if you’d like to discuss how you can help us, then please contact me via email: chairman@osme.org.
Finally, a huge thank you goes to all OSME members, corporate sponsors and donors who have continued to support our activities during a turbulent 2021. We couldn’t have achieved so much for the birds of the OSME region without you.
## **Treasurer’s Report**
The Society’s year ended with a strong balance sheet, a reflection we feel of the real and positive impact we are having across the region with our supporters, partners and members.
Income was up nearly £25,000 on 2020, due to the return of a significant sponsor and a further legacy from the Trevor Poyser estate. Expenditure remained much the same, meaning an overall surplus for the year of just over £9,000. We carried forward just over £36,000 in unrestricted funds and £55,000 in restricted and committed funds into 2022, meaning we will have no problem in continuing and even enhancing our activity at the current pace.
## **Income**
We were once again delighted to receive $20,000 from the March Conservation Fund, our activities clearly tying in with their aims and objectives.
We welcomed the return of a long-standing funder, who wishes to remain anonymous, who gave £10,000 to our Conservation Fund and £5,000 to our Youth Development Funds.
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
We would like to acknowledge significant other donations this year from Ann Browning, Chris Spooner, Ross Mackenzie, Colin Johnson, Alan Vittery, John Warr and Andrew Ward.
Many members also took the opportunity to make smaller donations with their subscription renewals.
We really appreciated the continued support of our Corporate Members: Birdfinders, Birdtour Asia, Greentours, NHBS (Natural History Book Service), Oriole Birding, Rockjumper and Sunbird. We were delighted to welcome two new Corporate members during the year in Bird Brain UK and Turnstone Ecology.
A Gift Aid claim for £2,129 was successfully submitted.
We ended the year with our membership growing over that in 2020, a significant achievement in the era of falling memberships for organisations generally.
The supported membership scheme, where a member pays an additional membership subscription on behalf of an OSME region national, saw a significant increase, with members backing this important opportunity for young birders and conservationists. We now have over 50 supported members and are looking to increase this number, especially with the availability of _Sandgrouse_ digitally which has particular appeal to younger people.
Some 22 institutions (universities, libraries etc) subscribed to receive copies of _Sandgrouse_ for which they paid an average of £40. A further 15 institutions, clubs and associates received complimentary copies. Our seven corporate members received copies as part of their membership and six copies were provided to the legal deposit libraries.
As we read in the Chairman’s report, our following on both Facebook and Twitter continues to rise with over 4,000 and 5,000 followers respectively. Converting these to memberships is a priority for us going forward.
## **Conservation Funds**
The graph shows the cumulative growth in Conservation Fund spending since 2001 and illustrates the rapid growth in our conservation activity with our spend more than doubling over the past six years!
Since the year 2000, OSME has made conservation and research grants of over £190,000 to projects across our region and we are delighted that once again we have increased our year-on-year spend with £22,925 going to a range of innovative and important initiatives outlined in the Chairman’s report. This compares to £20,723 in 2020 and very pleasingly we reached our goal of at least a £20,000 annual spend every year from 2020.
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Conservation Funds Cumulative Spend (£s) since 2001
240,000
200,000
160,000
120,000
80,000
40,000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
**----- End of picture text -----**
Grant distribution to date: Middle East 47%, Central Asia 30%, Caucasus 20%, Whole Region 3%
## **Youth Development Funds**
Since 2016 we have awarded £35,000 to projects involving young birders in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Lebanon and Turkey at an average of £5,900 per year, a sum we wish to build on in coming years as we expand the ‘Youth’ projects into further countries across the OSME Region.
Overall our investment from the Conservation, Youth and Trevor Poyser Funds reached over £34,000 pounds in 2021, some 10% more than in any previous year and a figure we will significantly exceed in 2022.
## **Expenditure**
Our increased investment in _Sandgrouse_ continued to maintain its quality with significantly larger editions.This was somewhat compensated by the increasing take-up of the digital edition which has helped reduce spiralling postage costs.
As ever, administration costs were well controlled and will reduce significantly in coming years as we close our rented storage facility.
## **Accounts Examiner**
Mike Jennings, a former Treasurer and eminent stalwart of OSME, has again examined and reported on the accounts without charge. This has been done in full conformity with the requirements of the Charity Commission both for accounting standards and, considering his long and close association with the Society, his own eligibility for this work. We extend a special thank you to Mike for this valuable contribution.
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021**
## **Reserves Policy**
The trustees have a reserves policy which is to conduct the business of the Society to complete the year with unrestricted funds on the balance sheet of more than £12,000. The trustees consider this would enable an orderly closure of the Charity if, due to unforeseen circumstances, that unfortunately became necessary. At the end of 2021, with unrestricted funds on the balance sheet of £36,255, the reserves policy was considered fulfilled.
## **Future Financial Policy**
The Society proposes to continue producing two new issues of _Sandgrouse_ per year and maintain and enhance the digital edition and produce a quarterly newsletter to all members.
We will continue to enhance our presence at the UK Birdfair and other events and further develop our Corporate Sponsorships. We will aim to maintain our Conservation Fund grants at the 2020 level of at least £20,000 a year. We will also continue the development our two new funds, the Youth Development Fund and the Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund. The reserve fund target will remain at £12,000.
## **Trustees’ Responsibilities**
Laws applicable to charities in England and Wales require Council, as trustees, to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the Charity’s financial activities during the year, and of its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees should follow best practice and:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
- state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the statement of accounts
- prepare the financial accounts on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue its operations
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the Charity, and which enable them to both ascertain the financial position of the Charity and to ensure that the financial statements comply with applicable law, accounting standards and the Charities SORP. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Approved and signed on behalf of the trustees:
Rob Sheldon Chairman November 26th 2022
Chris Hughes Treasurer
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** _**Independent Examiner’s Report**_
**Independent Report to the Trustees of the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, the Caucasus & Central Asia – Charity number 282938**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above-named charity for the year ended 31 December 2021.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner’s statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in any material respect:
- the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
- the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
- the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and Fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Michael C. Jennings 4th June 2022
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** _**Statement of Financial Activities**_
## **Statement of Financial Activities for the period 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021**
|Un-restricted
Funds
£
Income from:
Donations and legacies
Donations from members
3,185
Gift Aid tax refund
1,209
Fund donations
-
Other donations
741
Legacies
-
Charitable activities
Subscriptions
1
12,605
Gift Aid tax refund
920
Sale of publications
-
Donations from Corporate Sponsors
700
Other trading activities
Fundraising events
-
Investments
Bank and other interest
14
Total
19,374
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Cost of sales – goods bought in
-
Fundraising costs
-
Charitable activities
Conservation Fund grants
2
-
Conservation projects
2
-
Production of journal_Sandgrouse_
10,346
Support costs
3
Postage of journal_Sandgrouse_
4,194
Support costs
3,859
Bank charges
1,165
Total
19,563
Net Income /(Expenditure)
(189)
Transfer between funds
-
Net movement in funds
(189)
Fund balances B/F @ 01 January 2021
36,443
Fund balances C/F @ 31 December 2021
36,255|Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
45,072
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
45,072
-
-
29,434
6.400
-
-
-
-
35,834
9,238
-
9,238
46,482
55,720|Total
2021
£
3,185
1,209
45,072
741
-
12,605
920
-
700
-
14
64,447
-
-
29,434
6,400
10,346
4,194
3,859
1,165
55,397
9,049
-
9,049
82,926
91,975|Total
2020
£
2,635
687
22,261
427
-
13,299
1,040
-
-
-
32|
|---|---|---|---|
||||40,380|
||||-
-
26,173
5,366
10,960
4,658
6,337
1,008|
||||54,502|
||||(14,122)
-
(14,122)
97,047|
||||82,926|
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**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021 Balance Sheet**_
## **Balance Sheet**
|Fixed assets:
Equipment
Current assets:
Stocks
7
Cash - current account
- deposit account
Total current assets
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year:
Deferred income – pre-paid subscriptions
Grants awarded but not yet paid
2
Other creditors
8
Sub total
Creditors: amounts falling due after one year:
Deferred income – pre-paid
Provision for activities and
Net current assets
Funds:
General Fund
Restricted Funds|2021
£
-
-
201
975
91,000
92,176
3,925
6,163
1,695
11,783
475
(12,075)
91,975
36,255
55,720
91,975|2020
£
-
-
872
926
82,000|
|---|---|---|
|||83,798|
|||3,820
5,850
-|
|||9,670|
|||1,000
(9,798)|
|||82,926|
|||35,543
47,382|
|||82,926|
16
**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021 Notes to the Financial Statements**_
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
## 1. **Accounting Policies**
- a. Basis of accounting. The accounts are prepared under the historic cost convention.
- b. Subscription income is credited to the income and expenditure account in the period to which it relates. Subscriptions received in advance are carried forward as deferred income in the balance sheet and result in a liability for the future provision of membership services.
c. Stocks. No value is placed on the stocks of back copies of _Sandgrouse_ , primary purpose goods and donated goods held for sale in the Society’s accounts.
## 2. **Conservation Grants**
|Raptor monitoring (Batumi Raptor Count), Batumi, Georgia
Determining the status of Owls in Jordan
Syrian Serin population count, Lebanon
Migration etc. of Egyptian Vultures breeding in Uzbekistan
Egyptian Vultures in Turkey (with Birds on the Brink)
Steppe birds in Tulek Valley IBA, Kyrgyzstan
Conservation of western population, Great Bustard, Turkey
Eastern Imperial Eagles of Thrace, Turkey
Bird Camp during Global Birding Big Day, Azerbaijan
Study of Snowfinches in Greater Caucasus, Georgia
Monitoring Social Lapwing in Kumo-Manych depression, SW
Transportation of counters to and from counter site, Batumi,
North Cyprus Bird Camp 2021
Young falconers Bird Camp 2021, Georgia
Aswan Bird Camp 2022, Egypt
_Awarded for payment in 2022:_
Batumi Raptor Count
Avifaunal diversity assessment of Samur Valley, Palestine
Investigation of Steppe Eagle around Lakes Tuz and Seyfe,
Turkey
Conservation projects
Birds of the Middle East (Arabic)|2021
£
2,950
2,900
4,200
3,000
3,500
2,575
2,000
2,500
809
2,500
1,000
500
2,200
2,000
2,000
34,634
2,424
1,800
1,939
6,163
2020
£
-
-|2020
£|
|---|---|---|
|||31,541|
||||
|||5,850|
|||2019
£
2,926|
|||2,926|
17
**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021 Notes to the Financial Statements**_
## 3. **Support costs**
Support costs have not been allocated to activity categories within the Statement of Financial Activities. The table below provides an allocation. Values are estimated in all cases other than the mailing of _Sandgrouse_ to members and in the stationery and printing involved, where actual are used.
|Mailing of Sandgrouse
Sales & general postage
Data storage
Stationery etc.
Bad debt written off
Website
Meetings and events
Council travel expenses
Insurance
Bank charges
Independent Examiner’s
Totals|Fundraising
activities
£
419
-
371
25
-
269
27
-
41
350
-
1,501|Charitable
activities
£
3,775
57
743
99
-
358
54
76
31
350
-
5,541|Governance
£
-
133
124
123
-
269
54
76
31
466
-
1,275|Total
2020
£
4,194
190
1,238
246
-
896
134
152
102
1,165
-
8,318|Total
2019
£
4,658
558
2,942
942
389
504
421
468
113
1,008
-|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||12,003|
## 4. **Trustees**
No remuneration was paid or was payable out of OSME funds directly or indirectly to any Council member or to any person or persons known to be connected to them. Council members have been reimbursed at cost for purchases made on behalf of the Society.
## 5. **Employees**
The Charity has no paid employees.
6. **Taxation**
OSME is a registered charity and, under current legislation, has no liability to taxation.
## 7. **Debtors**
|Public Liability Insurance
Ready Steady Store self-storage
10Web Annual Fee (7.75m)
YMLP Licence Fee (1m)|2021
£
26
-
168
7
201|2020
£
-
727
145
-|
|---|---|---|
|||872|
18
**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021 Notes to the Financial Statements**_
## 8. **Other Creditors**
|Public Liability Insurance
Ready Steady Store self-storage
Web hosting
YMLP Licence Fee
PageSuite Annual Fee|**2021**
£
110
-
600
85
900
1,695|**2020**
£
113
625
225
-
-|
|---|---|---|
|||963|
## 9. **Movement in Funds**
|Unrestricted Funds
Restricted Funds
Avifauna Fund
Birds of the Middle East
Cons Fund - General
Cons Fund - Anonymous
March Conservation Fund
James Goodhart Fund
OMAN Fund
Supported Membership
Trevor Poyser Fund
Youth & Community
Y & C Fund – Anonymous
Restricted Funds Total
Total Funds|Brought
Forward
£
35,543
3,000
6,895
1,171
928
12,116
2,100
2,407
860
15,134
900
1,872
47,382
82,926|Income
£
19.374
-
180
2,781
9,800
14,072
500
-
1,365
10,000
1,375
5,000
45,072
64,447|Expenditure
19,563
2,700
1,200
1,010
928
20,925
1,100
-
-
4,200
-
-
35,834
55,397|Transfers
IN
OUT
1,720
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,720
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,720
1,720
1,720
1,720|Carried
Forward
£
37,075
300
5,875
2,732
9,800
5,262
1,600
2,407
505
20,934
485
5,000
54,900|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||91,975|
19
**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021 Notes to the Financial Statements**_
## 10. **Description of Funds**
We set up our funds to manage our donations correctly and ensure that the donor’s funds are only used for the purposes they intended. This is a core principle of Charity Finance creating Unrestricted and Restricted Funds.
## **Unrestricted General Fund**
The General Fund is the sole unrestricted cash fund of the society which receives all income and makes all payments. There are two bank accounts, a current account and an interest-earning deposit account. Transfers are made to and from other funds according to controls applying to those funds.
## **Avifauna Fund** (Restricted)
This Fund was set up to provide awards to projects funded by, and with the agreement of, Avifauna.
## **Birds of the Middle East (Arabic) Fund** (Restricted)
This fund was set up to raise funds for the publication of an App version of the BotME Book, a sole venture of the Society funded by donations and fundraising activities.
## **Conservation Fund** – General (Restricted)
This fund was set up to provide awards to projects for conservation in the region. It is funded from the General Fund.
## **Conservation Fund – Anonymous** (Restricted)
This Conservation Fund was set up to provide awards to projects funded by a large donor who wishes to remain anonymous.
## **Conservation Fund – March Conservation Fund** (Restricted)
This fund was set up to provide awards to projects funded by The March Conservation
## **James Goodhart Fund** (Restricted)
This fund was set up to administer funds donated over several years by James Goodhart.
## **OMAN Fund** (Restricted)
This Fund was set up to administer surplus funds from the dissolution of the Oman Bird Records Committee. It is to be used to fund ornithological projects in Oman. At the end of 2021, no such projects had been identified.
## **Supported Membership Fund** (Restricted)
The Supported Membership Fund was set up to provide honorary membership for nationals in the region who are not able to pay a full subscription. It is funded by subscriptions from Supporting Members.
20
**ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA**
_**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021 Notes to the Financial Statements**_
## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT**
## **Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund** (Restricted)
Following a major legacy from Trevor Poyser, this fund was established in 2019 and specifically focusses on single-species conservation of birds on the Red and Amber lists of BirdLife International.
## **Youth and Community Fund – General** (Restricted)
This fund was established to administer funds donated specifically for youth and community projects.
## **Youth and Community Fund – Anonymous** (Restricted)
This Fund was set up to provide awards to youth and community projects funded by a large regular donor who wishes to remain anonymous.
**OSME continues to fund projects across our region in support of the globally-threatened Sociable Lapwing** _**Vanellus gregarius**_
21