ISA HK/China --- Announcement of Concurrent Training Sessions at ETF

Dear Station Members & Anybody,

It is agreed by any arborist that arboriculture is a living & practising profession. Arborists must ' touch trees', other than books & computers. Our Station has always tried to find opportunity for our Station Members, CA or not, to get their hands into the practical side of arboriculture for complete learning. Here now comes the chance at ETF. ETF will eventually become the training centre for ISA development in Mainland China with its 20,000 trees grown to international requirement, & with a concrete climbing frame plus maturing trees for future Tree Climbing.

Please note there is now a concurrent training session of Basic Tree Climbing (BTC), Pruning Demonstration & Taxonomy/ISA Tree Standards has been arranged for our Station Members & anybody interested as follows:

Date : Sunday Oct 7, 2007

Time : 9.30 am departing Huang Gang Boarder in Shenzhen, & departing ETF at approx. 5pm to reach Huang Gang Boarder again at around 7pm on the same day.

Venue : Eurasian Tree Farm (ETF) in Guangzhou, China

Cost : Free of charge for the training sessions. Transport, meal & other costs will be shared evenly among participants.

Contents of Training :

BTC : This session is designed for beginners without or with very little proper tree climbing experience on a rope & hardness in climbing a tree. Basic body-thrust technique will be given to anyone willing to test himself/herself whether he/she has enough body muscles to climb a tree. Basic safety lanyard tie-in & basic limb walking for a maximum of 3 m will be performed on an artificial tree frame. PPE & climbing equipment will be provided free of charge & shared. However, do bring along your own industrial safety boots for climbing. If raining, use & inspection of PPE, climbing knots & structural pruning will be taught instead.

Pruning Demonstration : Proper tools & cutting techniques will be shown on real trees. Crown Cleaning & Structural Pruning will be demonstrated on Young Trees to achieve health & structure. Safety in using & maintenance of tools will be explained. Selection of tools & location of various cuts will be demonstrated.

Tree ID/ISA Tree Standards : Skills in identifying trees will be given with basic knowledge in Taxonomy to be explained. Keys to Identification for any plant will be explained in ascertaining species. Trees can be identified from growth form, foliage, flower, fruit, bark & ascent. All these parts will be explained in details & examples given on real trees. The ISA Tree Standards of Central Leader, Live Crown Ratio, Strong Branch Attachment, Spiral Staircase Scaffolds, 10 x DBH Rootball diameter, Radial Spread of Roots, no mechanical wounding larger than 5cm, etc. will be explained with ETF trees. Trees already selected for export to Singapore will be shown to candidates for the quality required by international standards.

Tutors:

1. Mr. KM Li --- Mr. Li has over 20 years of Tree Climbing experience at LCSD. Mr. Li has performed tree work on hundreds of tree species in HK in normal or stormy conditions. Mr. Li is well trained with the latest tree climbing techniques & skills.

2. Mr. Tong Ng --- Tony has been trained in the UK for arbor practices & has been awarded the TPNC credential. Tony has involved with chainsaw & pruning training, at LCSD & in the private sector. Tony has over 20 years of experience in local arbor work.

3. Mr. CC Poon --- Mr. Poon is the Supervisor of Kowloon Tree Gang of LCSD. He has over 20 years of experience working in the arbor field & has been trained for Tree ID & Tree Standards in many occasions.

No. of Participants : 40 persons only because of the seats in the hired bus. Please not the booking will be made on a first come first served basis.

Estimated Cost : We expect the cost per person should be around RMB 200.00 for sharing transport, lunch & sundries.

CEU : 3 CEU will be awarded for any CA/CTW attending the full 3 hour session.

Station Activity : This is a Station Activity eligible for entry requirement of CA Family. Anyone is allowed to join this training session, whether Station Member or not, in the name of our Participation into our community.

Who should participate? : Station Members without or with less than 5 rounds of proper tree climbing training with a rope & hardness. Anyone who wants to test himself/herself out to see whether he/she is fit enough to climb. Anyone has learned pruning in theory but has not seen it in practice should come & join. Anyone who has doubts on Tree ID & anyone has not seen the quality of ISA Trees in action should come & find out why they are superior to ordinary China trees. Since all sessions are run concurrently, anyone can attend one session (BTC?) for 30 minutes & then join another training group afterwards. Mixing & swapping are encouraged. This afternoon is guaranteed to be an exciting & decision making task for all those who are coming. Please note children under the age of 15 is not allowed to join for safety reason.

Why learn to climb? : Tree Climbing, be it professional or recreational, is an excellent mental & physical exercise. There are now over 19, 000 CA in ISA but less than 700 CTW. Tree Climbers belong to a special breed & they are surely proud to be. Tree Climbing is necessary for aerial inspection during tree assessment, & for structural pruning & rigging. Sometimes Tree Climber is employed to remove bird nest or even saving a cat. Wildlife observation is frequently coupled with Tree Climbing for camera installation & establishing visual station. Besides, when you are on top of a tree, all you would think is how not to fall, & not your worries & stresses anymore. Tree Climbers are usually physically & mentally fit, & long living. They tend to be good singers chanting tunes during their way up.

Condition of Joining : Please note no insurance will be provided against injury or accident of any kind during this trip & during the training session. Nobody including the ISA HK/China Station, the Station Manager or anybody else will accept any responsibility or liability for personal loss or accident of any kind during any part of the trip or training. Please purchase your own individual travel insurance if you need it. Anyone joining in is assumed to have accepted the Condition of Joining stated here. The training is given in good faith that the trainee is in good physical & mental condition to accept the training. The Station Manager has absolute authority to terminate the training to anybody if he regards the trainee is unsuitable to take up the training anytime for safety consideration. The Station Manager has also the authority to evict anybody in middle of the trip or training if he finds the participant uncooperative with the instructions.

Cancellation: If less than 20 bookings are received by 5 pm of Oct 5, the trip & training will be cancelled with immediate notice.

This is another occasion that ETF is opening up for BTC & other training for Station Members who have been forlornly enquiring for practical training opportunity for which the Station Manager can only do free of charge if at ETF which is at his disposal when without liability of any kind. We expect enthusiastic response for this training. Even before this notice was due to appear, 12 Station Members have already signed their names on through phone calls after they have been whispered. News really travelled fast for our Station Activities. Please therefore send in your booking ASAP to avoid disappointment.

Looking forward to making this training session another successful event at ETF like many others in the past.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager