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2022-12-31-accounts

ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST

THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

The globally threatened Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus a bird found throughout the OSME Region which featured in many of our Conservation activities in 2022

ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

CONTENTS

Reference and Administrative Details . . . . . . 3 Structure, Governance and Management . . . 4 Chairman’s Review of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Treasurer’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Independent Examiner’s Report . . . . . . . . . . .17 Statement of Financial Activities . . . . . . . . . . .18 Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Notes to the Financial Statements . . . . . . . . . .20

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

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 Members in 2022:

Trustees: Co-opted:

Marko Halonen (Secretary) AbdulRahman Al-Sirhan (Webmaster) Mike Blair (OSME Region List) Effie Warr (Membership and Sales) Murray Brown John Warr (Joint Treasurer) Paul Donald ( Sandgrouse Editor) Philip Roberts (Newsletter) Tomas Haraldsson (Youth Officer)

Ian Harrison Georgia Locock Chris Hughes (Joint Treasurer) Robert Sheldon (Chair)

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

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 26th of November. 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 2022

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.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Chairman’s Review of the Year

It is pleasing to reflect on what has been another successful year for OSME despite ongoing and emerging challenges. This annual review is much longer than usual due to the staggering amount of work we’ve supported over the last twelve months. Thanks to the amazing support of OSME members and donors we have continued to increase our expenditure through our three small grants programmes, supporting a wide-range of projects across the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Funding conservation

During 2022 we supported eight projects through our Conservation Fund, including our first ever project in Turkmenistan supporting the Menzbir Ornithological Society to undertake raptor surveys. Birds of Prey featured in a number of Conservation Fund projects during the previous 12 months, including supporting our friends at the Batumi Raptor Count. The longrunning annual autumn survey at the spectacular migration bottleneck of Batumi is one of the leading raptor migration monitoring programmes in the world, and OSME were delighted to help match fund a crowdfunding campaign to secure the necessary funds to keep this programme going for another year. The nine projects were:

Following on from the publication of a special issue of our journal Sandgrouse (see below), we joined forces with the Eurasian Bustard Alliance to offer a one-off bursary to support research and conservation of the globally vulnerable Great Bustard Otis tarda . Several strong applications were received but unfortunately, we were only able to support one. The successful application from Doğa Derneği and Ibrahim Kaan Özgencil focuses on identifying and mitigating threats the newly discovered Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda populations in Central Türkiye are facing.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Our total expenditure through the Conservation Fund in 2022 was £23,680, which continues the run of record-breaking years since 2014. Huge thanks to the March Conservation Fund for their continued financial support, which I’m delighted to say has been increased for 2023. A longstanding anonymous donor has also continued to support our small grants programmes, enabling us to grow both our Conservation and Youth Development Funds.

In January, we awarded our third Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund grant to the Biodiversity Research and Conservation Center Community Trust (BRCC) in Kazakhstan for the ‘Protection of Saker Falcon and Egyptian Vulture in the Karatau Mountains, South Kazakhstan’ (Plate 1). The project aims to understand more about the distribution of the target species, assess the key threats and propose mitigation measures. Fieldwork is now complete and a report will be available via the OSME website during 2023. We have sufficient funds to continue this dedicated small grants programme for at least a further three years and are looking at ways we can continue this in the future. OSME Council have been really pleased with the level of interest that we have had in the Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund and the high quality of the applications we have received to date.

Applications to the Conservation Fund and Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund are thoroughly reviewed by an independent committee that makes recommendations to OSME Council. During 2022 the committee was chaired by Dr Maxim Koshkin with expert input from Dr Nabegh Ghazal Asswad, Sharif Jbour, Dr Alyona Koshkina, Hana Raza and Maïa Sarrouf Willson. On behalf of OSME Council, I thank the Committee for their hard work and expertise in reviewing applications and providing clear guidance on which projects should be supported.

Youth Development Fund – supporting the conservationists of tomorrow

After the challenges of the global pandemic, our Youth Development Fund had a fabulous 2022. The fund is overseen by Tomas Haraldsson, OSME’s Youth Development Officer, and during the previous 12 months has supported more projects than ever before, including several new and exciting initiatives. In December 2021 we supported our first youth project in Aswan, south Egypt. 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, an ecotourism enterprise and the national BirdLife partner, Nature Conservation Egypt (NCE), joined forces and held an excellent weekend of training and awareness raising activities. A follow up project supported by the Harrison Zoological Museum Trust was initially planned for December 2022 but was rescheduled for January 2023. This is another exciting

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

partnership that enables OSME to continue to develop medium and long-term support for our Youth Development projects.

Also in Egypt, throughout 2022 we’ve been in discussions with NCE to help support the Galala Raptor Count. Training young birdwatchers and researchers in raptor identification and monitoring techniques will be an integral part of the project going forward. For this project we welcomed Nautica Environmental Associates as a new OSME Corporate Sponsor who have agreed to fund this project with a significant donation.

Kuşkor and BirdLife Cyprus held a bird camp in November aimed at teenagers from the two communities in Cyprus (Plate 2). Seventeen participants joined the weekend long bird camp in November that included a tour of some of the local Important Bird Areas, as well as an introduction to birdwatching and conservation. At least 55 bird species were encountered over the course of the weekend, including two Little Owls which were caught during a ringing demonstration. This second Cyprus bird camp builds on the success of the inaugural event in 2021, and OSME look forward to continuing to work with Kuşkor and BirdLife Cyprus to support youth development activities in the future.

We expanded our work in Türkiye, including supporting the School of Avian Ecology organised by Ibrahim Kaan Ŏzgencil and Melisa Soyluer. A total of 27 young conservationists, including one participant from each of Azerbaijan, Morocco and Russia, attended a week-long intensive programme of seminars, workshops and activities. Ringing activities run by the Eymir bird ringing station were also supported and we received excellent feedback from organisers and participants. Ibrahim Kaan Ŏzgencil also hosted the first OSME supported webinar aimed at young Turkish conservationists as well as OSME Supported Members. This is a webinar series we hope to expand in 2023.

In Azerbaijan, the Besh Barmag autumn bird camp returned thanks to substantial funding from the Azerbaijan diaspora. The activities were organised and run by previous participants of the bird camp programme which is how OSME wants to see our work develop at the local level. Similarly, an exciting project collaboration with BirdLife Europe and Central Asia supported preliminary surveys of the globally near threatened Marbled Teal in Azerbaijan. The Azeri survey team was comprised of young birdwatchers and conservationists who had previously attended the Besh Barmag bird camps – Youth Development in action!

Overall, an amazing £21,755 was spent through our Youth Development Fund in 2022 and it is especially pleasing to see many donations being made specifically to support this area of our work.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

When our three small grants are combined, OSME funded projects across our region to the value of £50,319. This is an incredible achievement and is the first time our expenditure through our various grant programmes has exceeded £50,000. It will be a significant challenge to maintain this overall level of expenditure in the coming years but OSME Council will continue to look for future funding opportunities.

New partnership with Opticron

At the Global Birdfair in July 2022, leading optics supplier Opticron agreed to support our Youth Development Fund by providing quality telescopes and binoculars for our bird camps and other events. Many of the enthusiastic young birdwatchers who attend our camps for the first time don’t have binoculars and this hinders their ability to get involved in all the activities. In the spring, two Opticron 20-60x Adventurer II WP telescopes were provided to the young Azeri team surveying Marbled Teal. I n the future more of our Youth Development projects will be supplied with 8x42 Adventurer binoculars.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Sandgrouse – showcasing ornithology in the OSME region

Issue 44(1) of our well-respected journal Sandgrouse was dedicated to the globally threatened Great Bustard. The special issue included the Proceedings of the International Conference Advancing the Conservation of the Great Bustard in Asia as well as several papers specially commissioned to provide a comprehensive overview of the status of the species in the OSME region. The issue was very well received and will no doubt be the key scientific reference for this species across central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East for decades to come. Huge thanks to Dr Mimi Kessler (Eurasian Bustard Alliance & IUCN SSC Bustard Specialist Group) and Professor Nigel Collar (BirdLife International & IUCN SSC Bustard specialist Group) for their support of the Sandgrouse Editor Dr Paul Donald in the production of the special issue. The wonderful island of Socotra was the theme of the second issue of Sandgrouse 44(2), which was published in December, although postage to members was delayed until January 2023. More members than ever are now opting to receive the journal in digital format which helps OSME make a significant savings on postage costs. This is greatly appreciated as the cost of postage is rising sharply. Members wishing to switch to digital format can email sandgrousedigital@ osme.org.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

The Global Birdfair and Falsterbo

In July 2022 the Global Birdfair returned at the Rutland Showground, Leicestershire, UK, and OSME continued a long-running presence at the event. It was the first time for more than two years that we were able to meet many of our members and supporters face-to-face. In September, for the first time, OSME also had a presence at the Falsterbo equivalent of the Birdfair thanks to Tomas Haraldsson and OSME members Stephen Menzie and Abdulhakim Abdi.

Communicating with members and supporters

The e-newsletter that was launched in 2021 continued with three more issues in 2022 thanks to the sterling efforts of Phil Roberts and a host of contributors. The number of subscribers continues to grow and the feedback so far has been wholly positive. It is easy to subscribe via the home page of our website and it is free to both members and non-members. Our Facebook page is increasingly popular with visitors from across the OSME region. More content than ever is being published in local languages, Turkish, Azeri, Georgian and Arabic, thanks to in-country OSME members volunteering as guest editors. Engagement on our other social media channels (Twitter and YouTube) has been sporadic due to a lack of capacity within OSME Council. Can you help with OSME’s social media channels? If so, please contact me at chairman@osme.org.

We continued with online meetings during 2022 with two events held in January and November. Of the eight speakers across the two meetings, seven were from the OSME region. The Annual General Meeting was also held online in November and it has been agreed by OSME Council that all future AGMs will continue to be held remotely. The transition to online meetings has certainly enabled OSME to engage with many long- standing international members which was previously impossible with the focus on face-to-face meetings. OSME Council remain uncertain what role face-to-face meetings will have in the future and we are keeping this under review.

Membership recruitment remains a concern for OSME, as it does for most similar-sized charities and organisations. Overall, we saw a slight decline in membership again during 2022, which has a significant impact on our unrestricted funds. Whilst OSME currently remains in good financial health and we are seeing record levels of income and expenditure, a significant proportion of this is restricted to our small grants programmes. The day-to-day running of OSME, including the publication and distribution of Sandgrouse , requires unrestricted funds for which membership subscriptions have been the main source. This is an issue that OSME Council will be looking at in detail in the coming year.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Changes to OSME Council during 2022

During 2022 there were a number of changes on OSME Council with Sajidah Ahmad standing down as Secretary and being succeeded by Marko Halonen at the 44[th ] AGM. Tomas Haraldsson was also elected back on to Council as our Youth Development Officer, and Chris Hughes (co-treasurer) and Mike Blair (ORL manager) continue as co-opted members of Council as their official terms ended. Paul Stancliffe’s term also came to an end at the 44 AGM in November. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all OSME Council members for their hard work and dedication over the course of the last 12 months.

Finally, thanks to all OSME members, supporters and donors for their help during 2022, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve so much without your continued support.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

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 down £7,000 on 2021, mostly due to the ending of a significant sponsorship, which I’m delighted to report returned in 2023. Expenditure soared with a really significant increase in spending from our various conservation funds, meaning a deficit for the year of just over £20,000. We carried forward just over £30,000 in unrestricted funds and £40,000 in restricted and committed funds into 2023, meaning we will have no problem in continuing and even enhancing our activity at the current pace.

Income

We were delighted to receive a increase of $5,000 to $25,000 from the March Conservation Fund, our activities clearly tying in with their aims and objectives.

We would like to acknowledge significant other donations this year from Bird Life Europe, The Bustard Alliance, The Harrison Trust, The Azerbaijan Diaspora, Chris Spooner, Colin Johnson, Per Oystein Klunderud and Geoffrey Jenkins.

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, Oriole Birding, Rockjumper, Bird Brain UK and Turnstone Ecology. We were delighted to welcome two new Corporate members during the year in Arabian Birds and Opticron.

A Gift Aid claim for £5,505 was successfully submitted.

We ended the year with our membership falling over that in 2021 a reflection of a drop of 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 53 supported members and are looking to increase this number, especially with the availability of Sandgrouse digitally which has particular appeal to younger people.

Some 19 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.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Our following on both Facebook and Twitter continues to rise with over 5,000 followers on each of these key Social Media sites. 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!

----- 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 2022
----- End of picture text -----

Since the year 2000, OSME has made conservation and research grants of over £214,000 to projects across our region and we are delighted that once again we have increased our year-on-year spend with £23,680 going to a range of innovative and important initiatives outlined in the Chairman’s report. This compares to £22,930 in 2022 and very pleasingly we maintained our goal of at least a £20,000 annual spend every year from 2020.

Grant distribution to date: Middle East 42%, Central Asia 34%, Caucasus 22%, Whole Region 2%

Youth Development Funds

A record spend in 2022 almost tripling that spent in 2021 to over £21,000 due to the support of many new funders highlighted in the Chair’s report. This key activity for OSME goes from strength to strength.

Since 2016 we have awarded £55,000 to projects involving young birders in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Lebanon and Turkey at an average of £8,000 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.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Overall our investment from the Conservation, Youth and Trevor Poyser Funds reached over £50,000 pounds in 2022, nearly 50% more than in any previous year and a figure we aim to exceed in 2023.

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 we will always strive to keep these to a minimum.

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.

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 £30,816, 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.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

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:

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 Chris Hughes

Chairman Treasurer

November 18[th] 2023

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 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 2022.

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:

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 11[th] July 2023

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 Statement of Financial Activities

Un-restricted
Funds
£
Income from:
Donations and legacies
Donations from members
4,103
Gift Aid tax refund
4,596
Fund donations
-
Other donations
577
Legacies
-
Charitable activities
Subscriptions
1b
11,235
Gift Aid tax refund
909
Sale of publications
-
Donations from Corporate Sponsors
350
Other trading activities
Fundraising events
-
Investments
Bank and other interest
55
Total
21,825
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Cost of sales – goods bought in
-
Fundraising costs
-
Charitable activities
Conservation Fund grants
2
-
Conservation projects
3
-
Production of journal_Sandgrouse_
13,649
Support costs
Postage of journal_Sandgrouse_
4
4,153
Support costs
7,850
Bank charges
1,591
Independent Examiner’s Fee
-
Total
27,243
Net Income /(Expenditure)
(5,418)
Transfer between funds
1,666
Net movement in funds
(3,752)
Fund balances B/F @ 01 January
36,255
Fund balances C/F @31 December
32,503		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
35,193
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
35193
-
-
45,435
5,000
-
-
-
-
-
50,435
(15,242)
(1,666)
(16,908)
55,720
38,812		 Total
2022
£
4,103
4,596
35,193
577
-
11,235
909
-
350
-
55
57,017
-
-
45,435
5,000
13,649
4,153
7,850
1,591
-
77,678
(20,661)
-
(20,661)
91,975
71,314		 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

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 Balance Sheet

Fixed assets:
Equipment
Current assets:
Stocks
6
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		 2022
£
-
-
216
1,283
70,032
71,531
310
220
80
610
165
(539)

71,314
30,816
40,498
71,314		 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

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 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

From Conservation Funds:
Continuation of BRC activities in the Batumi bottleneck
Matching funds to Batumi Raptor Count activities
Raptors in the mountains and deserts of Turkmenistan
Family of websites for birdwatching in Central Asia & the Caucasus
Protection of Saker Falcon & Egyptian Vulture, Karatau, Kazakhstan
Migration routes of Egyptian Vultures, Kyzylkum desert, Uzbekistan
Investigation of Steppe Eagle around Lakes Tuz and Seyfe, Turkiye
Threats to populations in Great Bustard populations, Turkiye
Avifaunal diversity assessment of the Sanur Valley, Palestine
From Youth Development Funds:
Besh Barmag Bird Camp 2022, Azerbaijan
Besh Barmag Bird Migration Camp, Azerbaijan
Marbled Teal Project, Azerbaijan
Avian Ecology School 2022, Simurg, Turkiye
Young Falconers Bird Camp 2022, Georgia
Eymir Bird Camp 2022, (METU), Turkiye
Breeding Bird Survey & Training, Manzala Lake, Egypt
Raptor count Lebanon 2022 (Hammana)
Bi-communal Bird Camp, Akanthou, Cyprus
Aswan Bird Camp, Egypt		 £
2,424
1,768
4,500
2,000
5,000
4,000
2,000
4,935
1,800
2,000
4,321
4,789
2,232
1,000
1,500
2,000
550
1,500
2,000
50,319

3. 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.

20

ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 Notes to the Financial Statements

4. Employees

The Charity has no paid employees.

5. Taxation

OSME is a registered charity and, under current legislation, has no liability to taxation.

6. Debtors

Public Liability Insurance
10Web Premium Plan web hosting
YMLP Licence fee

Public Liability Insurance
10Web Annual Fee
YMLP Licence Fee
Page Suite Annual Fee		 2022
£
30
179
7
216
2022
£
135
700
90
960
1,885		 2021
£
26
168
7
201
2021
£
110
600
85
900
1,695

7. Other Creditors

21

ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 Notes to the Financial Statements

8. Movement in Funds

Unrestricted Funds
Restricted & Designated
Funds
Birds of the Middle
East
Supported
Membership
Conservation Funds
General
March/Tides
Anonymous
James Goodhart
Oman BR Committee
Youth & Community
Funds
Avifauna
Azerbaijan Diaspora
General
Harrison
March
Nautica
Anonymous
Total
Trevor Poyser Fund
Total Funds		 Brought
Forward
£
37,055
5,875
525
2,732
5,262
9,800
1,600
2,407
300
0
485
0
0
0
5,000
33,986
20,934
91,975		 Income
£
21,825
12
840
1,774
20,578
0
0
0
0
3,970
6,019
2,000
0
0
0
35,193
0
57,017		 Expen-
diture
£
27,243
0
0
4,955
8,924
9,800
0
0
300
3,970
8,754
2,000
2,000
0
4,732
45,435
5,000
77,678		 IN
4,365
449
2,250
2,000
9,064		 OUT
2,699
3,000
1,365
2,000
9,064		 Carried
Forward
£
33,303
2,887
0
0
14,916
0
1,600
2,407
0
0
0
0
0
0
268
22,078
15,934
71,314

22

ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 Notes to the Financial Statements

9. 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 Fund.

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 2022, no such projects had been identified.

23

ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 Notes to the Financial Statements

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.

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.

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