ISA HK/China --- 2008 Green Thumbs Tree Climbing Championship in Singapore

Dear Station Members,

We wish to thank those of you who has been chasing this Station for details of the Green Thumbs 2008 Tree Climbing Championship in Singapore for the waiting. ISA HK/China has now received confirmation of the event as follows:

Dates: Friday Sep 12, 2008 for the Foreigner Group First Leg of the Competition starting
at 8am.
Saturday Sep 13, 2008 for the Finals starting at 8am
Sunday Sep 14, 2008 from 8am to Noon for the Gathering with Singaporean &
international climbers

Venue: East Coast Park Open Lawn next to Carpark E2

Further details of the Competition are given below in this message & in the attachments of this Station Mail.

ISA HK/China will encourage our climbers from Fung Kai School, CLP, LCSD, AFCD, HKAS, KFBG & TCHK to join & participate in this fun-filled & thrilling event. Those who do not belong to any group & wish to join can come under the flag of TCHK. Anyone can apply on his/her own to join the Competition not going through ISA HK/China. We just want you to be there to represent us, not necessarily under the name of any organization.

Besides being a requirement in Tree Work & in the future IPA system, Tree Climbing & Chainsaw Operation are exciting to watch. Anyone who has seen this would tell you that the vision, the noise, the cheers & the fist-throwing will boil your blood. Our HK Climber has won the Footlock event in the ISA Brisbane Conference this May & has then shown the world that Chinese climbers can climb & compete. Would more of you reveal your potential this time to show the Asian world?

ISA HK/China looks forward to a keen participation in the Green Thumbs in Singapore next month.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager



Subject: Special Invitation - Green Thumbs 2008 Tree Climbing Championships 13 Sep 2008 (Saturday)

Sammy,

Apologies for this late response. We were trying to finalise details before reverting to you. We appreciate your support for Green Thumbs 2008. In addition to the skills championships guidelines that I have sent earlier, I am attaching additional info on the registration form and the skills championships.

The timetable for the heats and the finals of the Skills Championships are included. We will encourage you and your fellow associates to participate in the Best Tree Climber and Best Chainsaw Operator Skills Championships.

We can certainly organise a get-together of the HK ISA Station and participants with the Singapore Arboriculture Society (SAS) on a day after the event on 14 Sep 08 (Sunday). This will facilitate the exchange of experiences and competencies, and at the same time build up a collaborative relationship to push forward arboriculture excellence in the region.

We look forward to your strong participation and meeting you in Singapore. I am attaching a short mailer on the event for your use.

+++

Green Thumbs is an annual Industry event in Singapore to showcase the skills of our workforce and the development progress of the Industry.

We have successfully organised Green Thumbs for the previous two years. The success of this event is in part due to the active contributions and involvement of the Industry Partners, like yourself. We wld like to thank you for your active sponsorship for Green Thumbs 2007.

Green Thumbs 2008 is scheduled on 13 Sep 08 (Sat) at East Coast Park Open Lawn next to Carpark E2. This event is organised by NParks/CUGE, and supported by NTUC and WDA. Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Education, is the Guest of Honour for the event. The GOH programme commences at 3pm on 13 Sep 08.

Green Thumbs 2008 will feature Industry workforce competing in a series of 10 Skills Championships, a Green Carnival featuring the first-ever F1 Mower Novelty Race, the launch of WSQ Floristry and the Opening of the Nominations for the Best BSI (Best Sourcing Initiative) Contractor in the Landscape Industry.

We hope to engage and excite the Landscape Industry workforce and the community in a fun-filled event. We will also have an Industry Networking Evening by the beach at 6.30pm on 13 Sep 08, to close the event. Green Thumbs has evolved into an important event of the Landscape Calendar. We will have the Industry companies participating in Skills Championships.

We will also have a Carnival drawing the public and community to have a fun-filled day. We will expect a crowd participation of about 100 Industry companies and close to a crowd of 4,000 for the event.

++++

Yong Fook Chyi § Assistant Director Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology (CUGE) Industry Division § National Parks Board § Tel: +65 646 27301§ Handphone: +65 9665 0432 § Fax: +65 646 95332Privileged/Confidential information may be contained in this message. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not copy, distribute or use it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other person. Please notify the sender immediately if you receive this in error. § Check out our website at http://www.nparks.gov.sg and http://www.cuge.com.sg

ISA HK/China --- 2008 Research on Therapeutic Tree Climbing

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Dear Station Members,

Attached is the latest research on the therapeutic values of Tree Climbing issued by Tree Climbing Japan (TCJ) in ISA recently. This may be the first research article published by ISA specifically on the emotional & ecological benefits of Tree Climbing so far.

Our Station has positively promoted the physical & mental benefits of Tree Climbing for some time already. Tree Climbing is now officially recognized in Japan as a healthy sport, not only for mental relaxation but also for ecological conservation. The famous Dr. Alex Shigo had emphasized in his Tree Biology series to ' Touch Trees' in order to understand trees. Then what is better to touch trees than to climb a tree?

In Japan, TCJ is the only organization approved by the authorities to climb public trees in parks, housing estates & conservation areas. For any professional climbers, the code for climbing is ' to preserve the tree in its original state or better after the climb'. The meaning of ' better' would mean any dead, dying, diseased or broken branches would be removed during the climb to make the tree healthier & stronger in structure. The TCJ official organizing he climb would have to sign an agreement with the authority in charge of the trees, & be responsible if this code is not observed. We can only wish HK can follow the same & let our CTW take our public to climb & preserve our trees.

HK is full of stresses of all kinds & it is known that Tree Climbing can relieves stresses, build a stronger body & increase our love for nature. No professional tree climber would like to damage any tree, or there may be very few trees left to climb. Only when Tree Climbing can develop in our society with action & examples, our trees would be protected & preserved better by vanguards of genuine Tree Lovers, who would climb trees to preserve trees.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

The ISA Mission - Through research, technology, and education, promote the professional practice of arboriculture and foster a greater public awareness of the benefits of trees. (http://www.isa-arbor.com/)