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2023-12-31-accounts

ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

The globally threatened Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius featured heavily in major conservation, education and research projects funded by OSME in 2023

ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

CONTENTS

Reference and Administrative Details . . . . . . 3 Structure, Governance and Management . . . 4 Chairman’s Review of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Treasurer’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Independent Examiner’s Report . . . . . . . . . . 15 Statement of Financial Activities . . . . . . . . . . 16 Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Notes to the Financial Statements . . . . . . . . . .18

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Reference and Administrative details

Name of Charity: Ornithological Society of the Middle East, the Caucasus & 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 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 2023

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.

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

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

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 .

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. For the second year running, 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 small grants programmes, supporting a wide-range of projects across the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Funding conservation

During 2023 we funded eight projects through our Conservation Fund, including a joint project with the Bird Conservation Fund (a US registered charity) that supported the work of the Uzbekistan Society for the Protection of Birds (UzSPB) on the critically endangered Sociable Lapwing. Our long-term support of Batumi Raptor Count continued in 2023. The long running 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 keep this programme going for another year. The Near Threatened Little Bustard featured again with projects supported in both Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. OSME funding of a Little Bustard project in Azerbaijan helped leverage additional financial support from the Rufford Foundation. The eight projects funded in 2023 were:

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Our total expenditure through the Conservation Fund in 2023 was £25,236 which continues the run of record-breaking years since 2014. Huge thanks to the March Conservation Fund and to a long-standing anonymous donor for their ongoing financial support, which has enabling us to grow both our Conservation and Youth Development Funds in recent years. In June, we awarded our fourth Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund grant of £4,900 to WWF Türkiye for their work on the Critically Endangered Northern Bald Ibis: “Back to the Migration for Northern Bald Ibis in Türkiye.” The funding will enable three satellite transmitters to be attached to Northern Bald Ibis (Plate 1) to further understand the migration behaviour of previously semi-wild birds and the threats they face. We have sufficient funds to continue this dedicated small grants programme for at least a further two 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.

Plate 1. A Northern Bald Ibis fitted with a satellite transmitter as part of the project funded by the Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund (Photo credit: Can Yeniyurt)

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 2023 the committee was chaired by Dr Maxim Koshkin with expert input from

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

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

Our Youth Development Fund continues to go from strength to strength under the watchful eye of Tomas Haraldsson, OSME’s Youth Development Officer. A key strength of our youth development work is that we look to provide continuity for projects so that they can develop over time. This may involve financial support over several years, but also helping with awareness raising and promotion of projects, as well as offering advice. This approach is exemplified by two projects we’ve been working with in Türkiye. In 2023 we provided the third round of funding to the Simurg Bird Sanctuary to support the running of their second Avian Ecology School (although the activities were postponed until Jan/Feb 2024). The six-day school hosted 25 students from across Türkiye, including nine participants from the earthquakeaffected regions (that struck in February 2023), where many people are still living in temporary containers. The participants attended 15 lectures and workshops, delivered by instructors from seven different countries. Topics covered included an introduction to statistics, grant writing, coding, and geographical information systems (GIS), all essential skills for conservationists and academics. Our support for this programme is key to ensuring the organisers can continue to offer such an in-depth programme of activities for a wide range of students. Another project, the Eymir Ringing Camp was supported for a second autumn of bird ringing activities, again to help enthuse and train the next generation of birders and conservationists. The project always gets excellent coverage in local and national media, and our support enables participants from across Türkiye to attend the programme. Both the Avian School of Ecology and the Eymir Ringing Camp received binoculars provided by OSME Corporate Sponsors, Opticron (Plate 2) and were handed over by Stephen Menzie during the European Ornithologists’ Union (EOU) conference in Lund, Sweden, in August.

The handing over of the binoculars at the EOU conference was made possible thanks to a new initiative that was launched by OSME during 2023. Council approved the establishemnt of a Youth Travel Bursary in late 2022 and the first recipient was Melisa Soyluer from Simurg Bird Sanctuary. You can read a guest blog from Melisa on the OSME website (published on the 1st March 2024) which highlights the value of this new bursary.

Plate 2. Stephen Menzie handing over Opticron binoculars to Melisa Soyluer for use by participants in the Avian School of Ecology and the Eymir Ringing Camp.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Overall, an amazing £20,244 supporting nine projects/initiatives was spent through our Youth Development Fund in 2023 and it is especially pleasing to see many donations being made specifically to support this area of our work.

When our three small grants are combined, during 2023 OSME funded projects across our region to the value of £50,380. 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.

Sandgrouse – showcasing ornithology in the OSME region

Volume 45 of our well-respected journal Sandgrouse incorporated papers from all corners of the OSME region, including ones supported by OSME small grants (Little Bustards in Azerbaijan (Issue 1) and Syrian Serin in Lebanon (Issue 2)). 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.

Plate 3. Sandgrouse Volume 45

Communicating with members and supporters

OSME were again present at the Global Birdfair at the Rutland Showground, Leicestershire, UK, and it is now one of the few events where we can meet many of our members and supporters face-to-face. The Birdfair is a significant investment in terms of both money and time, but Council remains committed to attend this annual event in the coming years. The e-newsletter that was launched in 2021 continued with two more issues in 2023 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

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

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 incountry OSME members volunteering as guest editors. Engagement on our other social media channels (X/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

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 2023, 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.

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 2023, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve so much without your continued support.

Treasurer’s Report

The Society’s year ended once again 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 £140,000 on 2022, mostly due to a significant, surprising and very welcome legacy from the estate of long-time supporter Harry James Goodhart of £129,500. Conservation expenditure of just over £50,000 matched that of 2022. We carried forward just over £166,000 in unrestricted funds and nearly £29,000 in restricted and committed funds into 2024, meaning we will have no problem in continuing and even enhancing our activity at the current pace.

Income

We were delighted to once again receive $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 a major anonymous donor, Nautica, The Bird Conservation Fund of America, Wader Quest, Chris Spooner, Colin Johnson, Per Oystein Klunderud, Geoffrey Jenkins. Mohammed Shobrak and Shunji Usui.

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, Turnstone Ecology, Arabian Birds, Opticron, Bloomsbury/Helm and Skua Nature.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

A Gift Aid claim for £4,558 was successfully submitted.

We ended the year with our membership falling over that in 2023 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 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 corporate members received copies as part of their membership and six copies were provided to the legal deposit libraries.

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 seven years!

Conservation Funds Cumulative Spend (£s) since 2001

----- Start of picture text -----
240,000
200,000
160,000
120,000
80,000
40,000
0
200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 201 201 201 201 201 201 201 201 201 201 202 202 202 202
----- End of picture text -----

Since the year 2000, OSME has made conservation and research grants nearing £240,000 to projects across our region and we are delighted that once again we have increased our year-onyear spend.

Grant distribution to date: Middle East 40%, Central Asia 36%, Caucasus 21%, Whole Region 3%

Youth Development Funds

We matched our record spend in 2022 with over £20,000 in grants in this one of our key areas of activity’

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Since 2016 we have awarded £77,000 to projects involving young birders in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus,Egypt, 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.

As the Chairman’s report comfirmed once again our investment from the Conservation, Youth and Trevor Poyser Funds reached over £50,000 pounds 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 2023, with unrestricted funds on the balance sheet of £165,923, 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

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

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

October 26[th] 2024

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 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 2023.

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 27[th] June 2024

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Statement of Financial Activities

Income
from:
Donations and legacies
Donations from members
Gift Aid tax
refund
Fund donations
Other donations
Legacies
Charitable activities
Subscriptions
Gift Aid tax refund
Sale of publications
Donations from Corporate Sponsors
Other trading activities
Fundraising events
Investments
Bank and other interest
Total
Expenditure on:
Raising
funds
Cost of sales - goods bought in
Fundraising costs
Charitable activities
Conservation Fund grants
Conservation projects
Production of journal_Sandgrouse_
Support costs
Postage of journal_Sandgrouse_
Support costs
Bank charges
Total
Net Income/(Expenditure)
Transfer between funds
Net movement in funds		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
3,876
-
-
3,038
129,576
11,690
4,558
-
2,800
-
652
156,190
-
-
-
-
10,091
6,140
3,466
1,386
21,084
135,107
-
135,107		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
41,468
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
41,468
-
2,583
50,380
-
-
-
-
-
52,962
(11,495)
-
(11,495)		 Total
2023
£
3,876
0
41,468
3,038
129,57
6
11,690
4,558
0
2,800
0
652
197,65
8
0
2,583
50,380
0
10,091
6,140
3,466
1,386
74,046
123,61
2
0
123,61
2		 Total
2022
£
4,103
4,596
35,193
577
-
11,235
909
-
350
-
55
57,017
-
5,492
50,435
-
13,649
4,153
2,358
1,591
77,678
(20,661)
-
(20,661)

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Statement of Financial Activities

Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried
forward		 30,816
165,923		 40,498
29,003		 71,314
194,92
7		 91,975
71,314

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Balance Sheet

Fixed
assets:
Equipment
Current assets:
Stocks
Debtors
Cash
- current account
- deposit account
- term deposit account
Total current
assets
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Deferred income - pre-paid subscriptions
Grants awarded but not yet paid
Other creditors
Sub total
Creditors: amounts falling due after one year
Deferred income - pre-paid subscriptions
Provision for activities and liabilities
Net current
assets
Funds:
General Fund
Restricted Funds		 2023
£
-
-
747
74,180
120,000
194,927
11,095
-
11,095
11,700
(22,795)
194,927
165,923
29,003
194,927		 2022
£
-
-
201
-
70,032
-
70,233
13,120
-
1,695
14,815
12,620
(28,516)
71,314
30,816
40,498
71,314

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 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: £

Wintering Little Bustard Survey, Azerbaijan 2,115 Little Bustard in Chuy Valley, Kyrgyzstan 2,500 Tagging Egyptian Vultures in Uzbekistan 3,500 Batumi Raptor Count match funding, Georgia 2,681 Sociable Lapwing stopover monitoring in Uzbekistan 4,996 Besh Barmag Migration monitoring, Azerbaijan 1,944 Surveys of migrating Sociable Lapwing in Central Asia 4,500 Impact of power lines on the Saker Falcon, Kyrgyzstan 3,000 Migration of the Northern Bald Ibis, Turkey 4,900 30,136

From Youth and Community development Funds: £ Eymir bird migration study, Turkey 3,400 Avian ecology school, Turkey 2,800 Galala observatory raptor count, Egypt 4,000 Travel bursary Melisa Soyluer, Turkey to EOC 2023 Sweden 300 Building management capacity at Besh Barmag, Azerbaijan. 1,944 Kuskor youth bird camp, Northern Cyprus 1,800 Scientific training in bird monitoring, Egypt 2,000 Young falconers bird camp, Poti, Georgia 2,000 Aswan bird camp, Egypt 2,000 20,244

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.

4. Employees

The Charity has no paid employees.

5. Taxation

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

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Notes to the Financial Statements

6. Movement in Funds

. Movement in Funds
Transfer
Brought Income Expenditure s Transfers Carried
Forward 2023 2023 In Out Forward
Unrestricted Funds 33,303 26,615 23,666 1,120 6,680 30,691
Legacies 0 129,576 0 129,576
Restricted & Designated Funds
Birds of the Middle East Fund 2,887 84 0 2,971
Trevor Poyser Fund 15,934 0 4,900 11,034
Supported Membership Fund 0 1,120 0 1,120 0
Bird Conservation/UzSPB Fund 0 4,980 4,996 16 0
Conservation Funds
Conservation Fund - General 0 0 1,081 1,081 0
Conservation Fund - March
Conservation 14,916 12,234 10,559 4,000 9,344 11,248
Conservation Fund -
Anonymous 0 7,000 7,000 0
James Goodhart Fund 1,600 0 1,600 0
OMAN Fund 2,407 0 0 2,407
Youth and Community Funds
Youth and Community -
General		 0 50 1,632 1,582 0
Youth and Community - March 0 7,000 9,344 9,344 7,000

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Notes to the Financial Statements

Notes to the Financial Statements
~~Conservation~~
Youth and Community -
Nautica 0 4,000 4,000 0
Youth and Community -
Anonymous 268 5,000 5,268 0
Restricted & Designated Funds
Total		 38,012 41,468 50,380 34,659
Total Funds 71,314 197,659 74,046 17,143 17,143 194,927

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.

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. It is maintained to fund future updates and improvements.

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 2023, no such projects had been identified.

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ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST THE CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 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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