ISA HK/China --- HK Tree news (Tree failure to nearly kill & tree labels)

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Dear Station Members,

Attached are two sets of recent Tree News in HK drawing our attention:

1. Tree Failure to nearly kill

According to the media report, an Aleurites moluccana of approx. 12m x 0.4m dia. was waving & suddenly fell to hit a passing taxi, crushing the front part of the car & poking through the front seat with failed branches. Luckily no one was sitting in the front passenger seat. The taxi driver & the lady passenger at the back both escaped a narrow kill. Should the angle of fall deviated by a little to the side or back, either the driver or the passenger would be hit right in the head, potentially causing serious injury or even death ...

It was reported that the failed tree had mushroom growth on the root collar & the failure appeared to be a structural defect with wind loading.

An interesting point to note in this incident is that the failed tree appeared to be in good health with sound foliage from the photo shown. A lot of our local Tree Inspectors, be they landscapers or others, would usually determine the health & condition of a tree just by looking at the foliage. It does not seem to be common to hear anyone commenting on branch attachment, lattice geometry, wind loading & pest problems with potential to fail. It would be regarded that any tree with good foliage, the tree would be healthy & safe. By Arborist standards, having good foliage alone does not mean the tree is safe in wind. In fact, it is usually quite the opposite because the bigger the crown, the higher is the liability for wind loading on that tree.

The crown of a tree is similar to the sail of a boat. If the crown is full but the branch attachments are weak, it would be like a sailing rig with weak connections. In wind, weaker connections would fail. However, our conventional practice appears to be that a Tree Inspector would only look at a tree for foliage density & colour. Structure & Wind Loading would not be emphasized or may even be missed out. Trees are massive structures with a potential to kill if failed, & trees are not pot plants or tomatoes. We can not judge the safety of a tree by horticultural standards alone. It is sad that Tree Failures in our urban settings are usually named an Act of God. Inadequate Risk Management would be rarely mentioned.

This unfortunate incident is likely to initiate insurance claim & may even bring Law suit from the victim's side. After all, they have had a traumatic experience never to be expected. If Arborist is involved in acting as an Expert Witness for any side in Court, quite likely the incident would be proven not an Act of God. Records & documentation would be investigated & the liabilities would be ascertained by the lawyers. Arborist would only provide technical support.

Would anyone be interested to take up the case?

2. Tree Labels in Tai Po

Someone wrote to the media complaining Tree Labels were incorrectly tagged for some public trees in Tai Po. The relevant Govt Dept have instructed the contractor responsible to rectify the placement & this Station does not see any major threat in messing up a few tree tags by accident indeed. HK has a culture of complaint & insignificant incident as such would be blown to distortion at times.

However, what is raising the attention of this Station for this event is really the design of the tree tags. They appeared to be sheets of printer paper inserted inside transparent plastic bags with the opening on top to collect rain or irrigation water. If water would get inside the bag, the paper is likely to dissolve & mosquito breeding is likely to happen.

Would it not be better if laminated label is to be used instead ? Laminated labels are equally cheap & available, & can be replaced with ease just as good as the existing one.

Just a casual thought ...

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- Pruning Guidelines of ETWB Feb 07

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Dear Station Members,

This Station received a useful Pruning Guidelines so printed under with 'ETWB Feb 2007' in the attachment from a Station Member (not a Civil Servant !). This Station has reviewed the contents & found nothing of a confidential nature harmful to anybody, & would anticipate this kind of information may be included into the landscape specifications later for Govt contracts.

The contents of the Guidelines are similar to the knowledge of ISA education on pruning, except they are much simplified for some reasons. In fact, if a Certified Arborist (CA) would look closely at the Guidelines, he/she may find some of the information is taking a similar approach with the book "An Illustrated Guide to Pruning, 2nd edition --- E Gilman" which tends to be a standard text of CA to study day-to-day pruning work. However, the Guidelines have also remained traditional terminologies like Formative Pruning, Crown Lifting, Cleaning, etc. & missed out on Crown Restoration & Mature Tree Pruning which are both vital & relevant to our Topping problem & OVT maintenance in our city.

Another issue that this Pruning Guidelines did not mention specifically is the pruning techniques for Decurrent (without a Central Leader) Trees which have been commonly grown for flowering in the past in HK. A lot of these Decurrent Trees have by now reached maturity & many of them can not be pruned in the same manner as Excurrent (with a Central Leader) Trees. Examples of Decurrent Trees would include the common Ficuses, Bauhinias, Delonix & Lagerstroemias which are common in our city. The species of Delonix regia (Flame tree) would grow fast & tall, & would usually fail without much warning.

To a lot of experienced CA & Tree Farmers, pruning is a vast & complex subject to master. Some say it would take a year to learn proper pruning & a lifetime to perfect. The Station Manager himself goes to ETF every weekend to care for his 20,000 trees & the majority of the time would be spent on Structural Pruning. In nursery production, borer attack is a common pest problem which would kill off the Central Leader of a tree like Topping. Crown Restoration is necessary to re-build the Central Leader or the tree can not be sold.

In a lot of Tree Inspection & Risk Assessment, the recommendation in the Arborist Report would include mitigation measure like Corrective Pruning. This kind of recommendation must be given very carefully because once cut at the wrong places, the tree may suffer by offsetting wind balance or nutrition uptake ability, & the cut parts can not be re-attached by any means.

This Station rarely gives instruction on the subject of Pruning in Station Mail, because we worry that someone may read the information & decide he/she would know it all. Pruning is a 3-dimensional practice & every tree has a different geometry. What is shown on books is usually 2-dimensional only & branch structure is usually not given in details. The Station Manager has always found before pruning is to be discussed, subjects like Tree Biology, Biomechanics & Nursery Standards should first be consulted to understand where to cut & how much to cut. The Arborist should first ask him/herself some questions before carrying out any pruning: Why should I prune, where & & how much to prune. There are times for safety reason or others, healthy tissues may be cut off seemingly absurd to laymen, e.g. Directional Pruning in High Voltage Transmission Lines. Those cuts are particularly hard to accept.

Tree Pruning can not ignore the use of Chainsaws. Chainsaw use involves primarily safety, cutting technique & maintenance. Knowledge in arboriculture is usually knitted together like a net. Any part missing will be like a broken net.

The Oct 7 Trip to ETF will be a good time to learn proper pruning on real trees by experienced tutors. There are still about 10 vacancies available at present & may be going fast once this Station Mail is out. If anyone wants to learn pruning on a real 3-D tree, why not come along to see it in action with tuition, rather than pondering it in theory from a 2-D book or computer?

Oct 7 invites you.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Moving 850 trees for a Bicycle Track in Yuen Long)

*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***

Dear Station Members,

Attached is a recent set of local news describing some tree disturbance in the Yuen Long area for the proposal to build a Bicycle Track. Some 850 no. of trees would need to be removed or transplanted owing to the construction. Some District Board members were raising concern with removing trees & would opt for transplantation. The general sentiment may be that by transplanting the affected trees, they would be saved from destruction.

Form an Arborist's point of view, trying to save trees not worth saving would cost time, money & efforts for a political exercise which may run into potential tree failures at the end. If those trees were growing in poor structure & health, or if those trees can not be transplanted with proper management (rootball, transport & future growing space), the transplanted trees would become more of a liability rather than an asset after all the time & effort spent. Have we not seen this happening many times in the past all over HK ? Do we call those topped trees after transplantation a proper 'Tree Preservation' ?

In an assessment of this kind, Arborists should be involved, be them from the Govt Dept or private consultancy. The landscape consultant could carry out the initial tree survey with their better facilities in documentation & CAD, but the Arborist should review in details of those trees recommended for retention, transplantation & removal with their better knowledge in Tree Care. The Arborist should study & recommend which trees to keep, move or fell with their professional judgment with justification to be reflected in an Arborist Report.

Certified Arborist (CA) in ISA HK/China will need to abide the Code of Honour of Integrity, Professionalism & Participation with an attitude of fact-finding & truth-telling in their work. Any breach of these in any way may lead to serious discipline by ISA HK/China, besides the CA involved may find him/herself liable to civil action in Court. Arborist Report is no flirting indeed.

At the District Board level, the Arborist can represent the Govt to explain the required tree movement to the politicians with facts & professional knowledge. Arborist has to speak out with facts & truth, not point of view. Aesthetic or species is usually a secondary consideration when safety is an issue. After all, what's good is it to have a 'good looking' tree, if it would fail to hit someone at the end? If the politicians do not like what is being told, then it will be ' Mother Nature makes the rules, not anybody ' to them. Arborist can not compromise facts & truth with politics. The politicians will have to bear the legal & moral responsibilities of tree failures in future if they do not listen, nobody else.

So, that's how a good Arborist would tackle a job like this. In HK today, we do not have an Arboricultural Office in our Govt like in western countries to handle all our tree affairs. It appears to be the administrators talking to the politicians on tree affairs most of the time. Would they do the same in a medical situation ?

HK may change for the better in handling our tree affairs eventually ...

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- China Tree News (Saving Dying Trees in Beijing & IPM China 2007)

*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***

Dear Station Members,

Attached are two sets of recent Tree News from China :

1. Research to save dying Mature Trees in Beijing

It was reported that following heavy urbanization in Beijing, the health & growth of Mature Trees in the City have been seriously threatened. According to statistic, in the year 2005 alone, around 10, 000 no. of Mature Trees in Beijing have died. In the year 2006, in the famous Tian An Man Square, over 200 no. of Mature Pines also died off.

In view of such deteriorating situation for the Mature Tree planting in Beijing, the Beijing Institute of Landscape has begun their research on the decline of Mature Trees. It is said that their research will focus on environmental science, plant physiology, plant aging biology & plant protection. It is reported that such research will fill the vacuum in the studies of Mature Trees in the capital city of China.

In reality, this will be an excellent opportunity to sell ISA to Beijing in the eyes of this Station. However, this would mean sending someone knowledgeable enough in arboriculture, language, diplomacy & culture to stay in contact with Beijing, preferable up there to drink & party with them whenever on call. Beijing has also a tradition of protectionism & anyone outside Beijing can be considered as a foreigner. We also need to be careful about the true intention behind this message, whether the event was really aiming for fund rising only to save a Dept. In China after 1949, any outside influence would be labelled ' foreign intervention' if not welcomed or desired, & our brothers & sisters would not tell us on the face. Once shut away & black listed, it may require extra effort at senior level in the Govt to break the ice. We just have to play it their way to be invited rather.

China the Old Dragon is certainly not as easy to enter as some may think without better understanding of this land of 1.3 billion, under a socialist Govt running an apparently capitalistic economy.

2. IPM China 2007

Once again, this national event hosted by seniorities in the Chinese Govt appears to be a suitable spot for this Station to participate for promoting ISA & arboriculture over there. This event is held close to HK, just 50 miles away to our west. Language does not appear to be a problem & there are lots of Chinese landscapers attending this gathering. The cost for a 9 sqm booth is only USD 625 for a period of 3 days & logistics are available conveniently for participants.

However, on further enquiring about the event, it does not appear to have a seminar session in this important national gathering !! The participants are there only to sell their products in their own booth for passing customers. No education session or discussion will be available. It will be everyone for himself in the event. This IPM show appears to adopt the traditional China Market Place style of heckling & bargaining, & not really meant for promoting education or research.

The Station Manager has also enquired what if a Tree Climbing Demonstration can be arranged by us? Would IPM China consider to promote it? The answer is a definite 'yes', but we have to bring in our own tree. We also have to remove the tree after the show immediately at our own cost. The place for the demonstration will need to be arranged at an additional cost to us ...

Therefore, at such an important greenery show at national level in China, no education or demonstration session is made available to the participants. We can only sit there to wait for passing customers to enquire about ISA & tree care, & they are likely to ask us for brochures & catalogues for their future pirating. Hardly any of them will understand English & they would be most interested in prices rather than knowledge. To a lot of them, it is money that makes the world go round ...

Would this be the kind of Trade Show that we are prepared to go in at present?

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Green Power survey on Tree Care)

*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***

Dear Station Members,

An environmental activist group called Green Power recently carried out a survey on the satisfaction level of Tree Care in HK & the report is given in the attachment & in the following link, in Chinese:

http://hk.news.yahoo.com/070915/60/2fpso.html

According to their survey of 200 people, 70% were unhappy about the current condition of Tree Care in HK & some were demanding for Tree Laws to be enacted to protect our trees. A lot of the responders also did not know which Govt Dept is responsible for which trees in various locations.

What is drawing attention to this Station is that the good Mr. YP Tsang, brother of our Chief Executive His Excellency Mr. Donald Tsang, was also quoted as a positive Tree Lover to support our Tree Care. Mr. YP Tsang was quoted in saying that he has fond memories of the Ficus Trees at where he used to live in Hollywood Road when he was young, & these trees have witnessed his childhood. This Station has identified the potential help of Mr. YP Tsang & will bear in mind to approach him when the opportunity has arisen. We need all help we can get to develop Proper Tree Care in HK indeed.

Research has shown that properly installed trees in a community can lower social resentment & pacify mind. Look at those Big Spreading Trees in Hawaii & those Mature Trees in Singapore. Don't they please even the visitors? Communities well planted with trees tend to have lower crime rate & speedier recovery for patients. Men & Trees have always been one system throughout ages & it may be against our hidden nature to disturb trees.

On the other hand, if trees are not selected, planted, maintained, inspected & assessed for risk properly, they are likely to become a liability rather than an asset. Just look at the number of tree failures in our territory every year as a fact. Many events are not Acts of God. Evidence could speak stronger than words.

The number of Arborists now in our territory is on the rise rapidly & consistently. By this moment, HK/China has 41 Certified Arborists (CA) already. We expect the number to double after the Oct exam next month. HK may eventually possess over 1,000 no. of CA with the popularity it is going & the feedback this Station is receiving. Collecting credential fits into the mentality of our society.

On the other hand, passing the CA exam does not mean a person will become instantly proficient in practicing arboriculture by international standard. There are many legal pitfalls in practising arboriculture & lawyers are like sharks hunting blood. Arborists must be fact-finding & truth-telling to sail safely. By earning the CA credential has only pushed open the entrance door into the world of Arboriculture & there are still many doors to open after becoming a CA. The learning will be life-long & any international Arborist will confirm that.

This Station will carry on developing arboriculture in the proper manner & try to bring in as many allies as possible in due course.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manger

Nparks --- Green Thumbs 2007

Dear Station Members & Anybody,

Our good neighbour Singapore is generating heat for their Greenery event called Green Thumbs 2007 & publicity is emerging everywhere to boil participation. Singapore is taking full advantage of their magnificent trees for social event as well as for tourism, as their good trees would deserve every bit of our respect.

Please visit the pages below & the attachment of this e-mail for additional information of the event.

This Station would encourage anyone interested to feel the impact of Modern Arboriculture to visit Green Thumb 2007 in Singapore. If anyone going, would you be kind enough to send us a report for Station Mail upon return, so that we can also share your joy?

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager


----- Original Message -----
From: Fook Chyi YONG
To: egc@netvigator.com
Cc: Teva RAJ ; Iqbal SANJIMAN
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 3:45 PM
Subject: Re: Nparks --- Green Thumbs 2007

Sammy,

Thanks for your support and encouragement in our event. You have indeed be a very good publicity platform for us in HK, China and Taiwan.

We are attaching a series of photos and news articles of the event for your perusal and if you feel suitable, to circulate to your members as well.

We look forward to seeing you in Singapore real soon.

Cheers.

One of the coaches, Scott Sharpe, showing the ropes to a tree climbing championship competitor.

One of our NParks competitors in the tree climbing championship, Jasmine Koh, getting ready for her heats.

Yong Fook Chyi § Assistant Director (Manpower Development)/ Industry Division § National Parks Board

§ Tel: +65 64717065 § Fax: +65 64723303

Privileged/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/

ISA HK/China --- The Hawaiian Experience (2007 ISA INternational Conference)

*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***

Dear Station Members,

Aloha ! Hawaiian Greetings.

What a pleasure it was to be in a paradise of sunshine, blue ocean, big surf & friendly people. The world has been left behind for a week for all 9 of us from ISA HK/China attending the 2007 ISA International Conference in Honolulu, & what an experience it was to meet the world ! Our eyes were really opened.

There are far too many events to report in a brief Station Mail about this Conference. We have already organized an Informal Dinner for briefing with more than 60 Station Members attending the presentations. Being there, ISA HK/China has seen how far the world of Arboriculture has advanced & we have never realized that there are so many research institutes & agencies studying Arboriculture around the globe. The lectures presented in the Conference were very educational & useful indeed.

Several events deserve focus in this simplified reporting:

1. Asia Pacific Arboricultural Forum

Countries from around the world including HK/China, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Australia & New Zealand attended a friendly meeting to share experience in Arbor development in various regions. Everybody shared their views & it was interesting to see so many people paid attention to our development in HK/China. Many useful ideas were raised & taken note by various parties. The success of Japan was particularly interesting to us with regard to their Tree Doctors & Tree Climbing development within such a short period. ISA HK/China has issued a positive message to Japan that we want to make friends with them & the message was well responded.

The Station Manager has also raised the priority in developing ISA in English speaking countries in Asia like Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka & India to tap the fast growing economy & population there. Traditionally & culturally, Trees are Gods in many parts of Asia. Developing proper tree care will fit into the mentality of these societies who may have never heard of ISA before.

2. ISA Education Seminars

ISA Conferences are all about education & experience sharing. The Hawaiian Conference was no exception. However, the Conference sessions were run concurrently for Utility, Municipal, R& D, Commercial Arboriculture & Tree Climbing. It then became rather a decision making process on choosing which one was best to attend.

Tremendous knowledge was packed in each training session which usually lasted only 30 minutes. Lectures would usually begin at 7 am & early bird would catch the worm. Presenters included internationally famous Prof Kane, Prof Gilman, Dr. Smiley & Nelda Matheny. Topics varied from Structural Tree Cells, Touch step Potential, Tree Failures to Mature Tree Management. It would feel that the world of Arboriculture suddenly fell on us in such weight & impact that we seemed to be converted anew after all the learning.

To be honest, the food & drinks could only be considered basic at the Conference when comparing to what we are used to in HK. However, the knowledge was plentiful & deep. If it is the knowledge & connection that we are looking for in a conference, ISA Conference is definitely the place.

3. International Tree Failures Database (ITFD) Meeting

International experts like Prof Kane, Judy Adams, Dr. Smiley & Sharon Lily were leading the meeting to discuss how ISA could become more involved with ITFD. In future, ISA may provide funding & logistic support to ITFD for training & education programs.

ISA HK/China has raised practical questions like how we can inspect & report our thousands of trees failed after a typhoon & trees in our territory would be cleared as soon as they failed to avoid traffic obstruction. ISA HK/China has also received training materials from ITFD which would be useful for training our own tree assessors in future. The Station Manager raised the question on assessing standards between ISA & USFS & was told that either would be deemed acceptable in most Tree Inspection cases.

A training session for ITFD Tree Assessors may be held at the 2008 Asia Pacific Arbor Conference in Brisbane to invite all interested parties from Asian countries to attend.

4. International Tree Climbing Championship (ITCC)

This was a joyful & vibrant event !

The Station Manager has seen for the first time how International Tree Climbers competed for their best in Throwline, Footlocking, Aerial Rescue & Work Climb with such diversities in equipment & techniques. The boy & girl Tree Climbers from Fung Kai School were also introduced publicly at the opening session of ITCC by the organizers. This was an exceptional honour for ISA HK/China indeed.

The Station Manager has set aside priority on ITCC events because Tree Climbing is something which is hard to self-study alone. Many humble learning of techniques & equipment have been acquired from international experts for bringing back to our territory for exploitation. Seeing was believing most of the time. The Station Manager has noticed that most Tree Climbers are usually quiet, humble & deep thinking. Their only focus is on trees & techniques, which would really make them a breed of their own.

The ITCC has gathered the world's best Tree Climbers to compete for events simulated from everyday work. Trees in Hawaii were also beautiful & wide spreading. The Men's Footlocking competitors were racing at approx. 1 second per meter for a 15 m climb, whereas the Women's were not far behind with less than 18 seconds for 12 m. The Men's Work Climb was full of cheers & feats that could only be felt if you were there. In the Aerial Rescue, different types of techniques form various countries were demonstrated. The ITCC events were full of amazement to we beginner climbers from HK/China & it was such a pleasure to be there.

x x x x x x x

It was a total success for all 9 of us attending the 2007 ISA International Conference in Hawaii. As said before, ISA Conferences are full of good education so designed to upgrade the participants in the latest knowledge. They aim to provide research & education at the cutting edge to advance arboriculture in the best manner. The week we spent there was well worth the long travel & jetlag. All of us have enjoyed the trip very much.

The next major Conference for ISA HK/China would be the Inaugural Asia Pacific Arboricultural Conference in Brisbane from May 9 - 14, 2008. This Conference will focus on specific topics of relevance to the Asia Pacific Region such as tree inspection, tree failures & pest problems. Brisbane is much closer to HK with daily direct flight & with a negligible 2-3 hour jetlag. This Station hopes to bring an even bigger delegation to Brisbane with a climbing team to compete in the regional championship.

Who would like to join?

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (CAHK's comments on OVT's)

*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***

Dear Station Members,

Attached & below are recent Tree News published by the Media on the latest situation of some of our Old & Valuable Trees (OVT) in HK. The contents are self-explanatory & there is no need for this Station to put in additional comments.

Please kindly note Ken So of the Conversation Association of HK (CAHK) is an ISA CA/CTW & also a Proctor in our Station. We have every faith in him speaking out with Integrity, Professionalism & Participation with an attitude of fact-finding & truth-telling on our local tree affairs. Trees are the community centre of all wildlife on land & protecting trees is indeed protecting our environment.

This Station has also noted that CAHK has taken positive interest in our local tree affairs ever since Ken So joining in July. With Ken's experience & expertise, we can be sure that CAHK will be come more involved in commenting our local tree affairs with popular support.

Therefore, Ken, keep up the good work ! Fly our flag & protect our trees. You will have everybody's support if you are doing the right thing, openly or under.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

古樹枉稱王 九棵瀕作古誰來救它們？

本港樹王命危矣！本港九棵市區樹王，除九龍公園的細葉榕早前已倒塌外，其餘八棵原來亦百病叢生，不少古樹根部更呈現腐爛，至少三棵有倒塌危險，隨時造成人命傷亡，當中包括位於中區政府合署的紫檀樹，也未獲細心護理。長春社諷刺當局「連樹都管唔掂」，質疑如何管治社會。
長春社保育經理蘇國賢近日巡查九棵曾在九七年獲市民選為樹王的古樹，發現它們長年被不正當修剪，樹幹出現大大小小的傷口，部分甚至長出真菌，不少古樹的根部均被石屎填埋及車輛輾壓，已經嚴重腐爛，難抵風雨，隨時有倒塌危險。

合署名樹恐變朽木樹王慘遭蹂躪，當中又以位於皇龍道的細葉榕情況最危急。蘇國賢表示，該樹生長空間嚴重不足，樹根被迫長出馬路，不少更遭車輛輾至腐爛；九龍塘紫藤路的合歡樹及壽臣山道海洋公園附近的雨豆樹，樹根亦因被石屎覆蓋出現腐爛，未能抓住泥土令樹身傾斜。

中區政府合署入口的紫檀樹不但營養不良，部分樹枝出現腐爛情況後，被人以石屎填補。蘇指出，這種護理樹木方法非常落後，不但令樹枝無法長葉，石屎經歷長時間後，有剝落象，隨時擊中途人，極之危險。長春社公共事務經理李少文諷刺政府：「連自己地方古樹都管唔掂，仲點去管其他呢？」

九棵樹王皆名列政府於○四年設立的古樹名木冊，該冊原意為保育古樹，規定任何工程都不可砍伐名冊上的大樹，但有關制度透明度極低，只公開樹木的資料，但沒有披露其健康情況。據了解，名冊上最初有五百二十七棵古樹，近年中西區一棵血刺桐枯死被除名，當局亦沒有公布。長春社促請政府公開有關古樹保育的資料。康樂及文化事務署表示，已巡查過全港古樹，並為有問題的樹木進行護理，會再了解九棵樹王的情況。

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

ISA HK/China --- Oct CA exam details

Dear Station Members & Anybody,

It is the pleasure of this Station to announce that an ISA Certified Arborist (CA) exam will be arranged in the HK/China Region as follows:

Date: Thursday, 25 October, 2007

Time: 4.30pm - 8.30pm

Venue: Assembly Hall, Fung Kai No. 1 Secondary School, 17 Sheung Shui Jockey Club Road, Sheung Shui, Hong Kong

Maximum number of seats : 80 candidates, on a first come first served basis

Deadline of Application to ISA Headquarters : 4 October, 2007 (All Candidates MUST apply on-line to ISA HQ at www.isa-arbor.com & inform this Station at the same time for local record. Missing records can not be helped on our side if not given. Those who are re-taking the exam must follow the instructions stated in the ISA exam result letter.

Please kindly note the exam may be cancelled or postponed for unforeseen events such as the hoisting of typhoon signal no. 8 or higher, or Black Rainstorm Signal in force, or for any other reason. The candidate can always call the Station Manager at 9090 6719 on the exam day to make sure, if in doubt. Please kindly note ISA exams in the HK/China Region are run by volunteers without pay at their own time & expenses for the benefits of Station Members & public. Please have pity on them.

For those of you who are not yet ISA HK/China Station Members, we would encourage you to join us for update in local tree affairs & ISA activities including exams & training in our region of HK,Macau, Taiwan & China. ISA HK/China organizes ISA activities qualified for CEU after you have become a CA. All ISA Credentials are only valid for 3 years at present & all CA/CTW will need to collect enough CEU in this period to renew their status. Our Station can provide that usually free of training cost. Alternatively, you may wish to visit our Blog of http://isahkchina.blogspot.com for additional information, although most images are not attached there due to size.

Thank you for your kind attention.

best regards,

Sammy Au
ISA HK/China Station Manager
ISA Chief Proctor for the HK/China Region
ISA Certified Arborist / Certified Tree Climber no.ML-0174AT
International Tree Failures Database Coordinator for the HK/China Region
Independent Tree specialist to the HKSAR Govt
Lecturer of Tree Supervision at CITA

ISA HK/China --- Big Spreading Trees in Hawaii

*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***

Dear Station Members,

On the last day of the 2007 ISA International Conference, a walking tour was organized by the Hawaiian Society of Commercial Arborists to visit their city & park trees. What was most impressive for the Station Manager was to see the many Big Spreading Trees growing in city parks of Honolulu for public enjoyment. A few photos of them are attached for general information & comparison with the Shade Trees growing currently in our parks & open areas in HK/China.

It can be seen that the crown diameters of these Big Spreading Trees are normally over 40 m & the Live Crown Ratio (Height of Foliage / Total Height ) is generally over 60%. This shows that the trees are having adequate foliage to produce carbohydrate from Photosynthesis & will have good wind resistance due to their low Centre of Gravity. It can be also noticed that these trees have been structurally pruned all the way & incorrect pruning such as Topping or Lion-Tailed Pruning was not detected in the canopy. There were hardly any decay, cankers, galls & mechanical damage on the tree body, showing that the trees were maintained in good health. It was very apparent that these Mature Trees have been given good care all the way so that they can grow to such aesthetics, health & structure.

How often do we see Big Spreading Trees in our city parks & open areas as comparable to these in Hawaii, no matter in public or private properties?

Some would say HK has not got the space to accommodate Big Spreading Trees. This Station would argue that if we do have space to plant just one Big Spreading Tree, at least 10 smaller trees would be installed instead to occupy the same area. It seems that we tend to enjoy quantity, never mind the quality.

Imagine how inconvenient it is to manoeuvre under 10 tree trunks & branches rather than just one in the same space. Can we cycle or stroll under 10 trunks without bumping into one by accident? Then what about the competition for water & nutrients of 10 poor trees all squeezed together in a tiny forest. Would pests & diseases not spread faster for 10 trees? Would it not be another HK housing condition in the 1960's ??

Tree Selection in HK would generally go for 'flowering' as the priority because some reckon that colour & scent are the primary amenity of a tree. Some do not understand that what's seen flowering in books or computers may not flower at all on site, becasue flowering requires success in vegetative growth beforehand. Then how many of us would consider the amenity values of the ' flowering' tree after flowering. Also, do flowers stay on forever? Of course not, probable for something like a month at most for general species. Would anyone then query the wind resistance ability of the ' flowering' species so selected? The answer may be found in the many urban trees fallen after a small typhoon. Trees with a lot of flowers usually belong to weak wood & facts speak for themselves. For Arborist, it is always ' Mother Nature makes the rules, not us.'

The Station Manager has seen trees in Singapore mostly selected for health & structure to cool their city, with 'flowering' as a secondary consideration or just bonus. After all, flowers on trees are usually carried at the outer perimeter of canopy to attract birds & insects for reproduction, not for any purpose of we humans. They can hardly be touched or smelled unless you climb close. Then how many of us are Tree Climbers?

Trees in Singapore are recognized to be a great success & a valuable asset to their country. As a rule, trees are always selected by Arborists in Singapore in Govt landscapes.

Are Big Spreading Trees difficult to grow? The answer is no, but we need to master some basics. Arborists would have all the answers because they are the true Tree Care Professionals. To begin with, we need to select the right species with good nursery quality, & give them room above & below ground to grow. Structural Pruning is of paramount importance. Without corrective pruning, even the best nursery stocks in the world would grow wild in an urban environment. Then regular Tree Inspection & Risk Assessment are required to maintain health & structure, & to minimize hazards. Tree Climbing will be required for such work to penetrate inside the canopy. Platform lift can usually reach the outside of the canopy & may conflict with protruding branches.

Now we can see how the different knowledge of arboriculture are knitted together to produce Big Spreading Trees. Parts to be missed out in the operation will be like a broken chain. A complete treatment for a tree is like a complete diet for a person. There is simply no shortcut.

Big Spreading Trees are of such aesthetics & amenity values that we should develop them in HK/China. They are the genuine 'trees' described in our textbooks & they are loved by the public. Then are there any Big Spreading Trees anywhere in our urban area maintained in quality comparable to these ordinary Hawaiian park trees ? Station Mail would love to collect some photos to show the world indeed. This will make us proud.

A lot of the Big Spreading Trees so visited in Hawaii belonged to no more than ordinary Ficus, Samanea & Crataeva species. They are no magic to us in HK, but their proper tree care is magic.

In Hawaii, people were seen enjoying themselves under the relaxation of the Big Spreading Trees. Peace of mind can be felt while resting under the tree canopy, despite the ambient temperature of 32 C around. The benefits of trees can be truly appreciated when one is standing under or looking from a distance at these magnificent trees.

HK seems to be cooking political turmoil after 1997. Our public spent too much time in politics to grind heat for no positive results. If they would spend just a part of that time as an alternative on caring for our trees, maybe we can have a much more harmonious society for better living. In the rural past, villagers talked a lot about their trees. Trees were part of the community. We don't seem to hear this kind of conversation often these days. Is it because we keep losing our Mature Trees?

Maybe when our ' Victoria Park Uncles' in HK came to rest under these magnificent Big Spreading Trees, their conversation would change from political argument to measuring & comparing trees nearby. Would that not be the 'harmonic society' that our current Govt genuinely desire?

Big Spreading Trees are magic indeed. Do we want them, & how ??

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Flood Lighting a Mature Albizia & Tree Butchery in a School)

*** Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas.***

Dear Station Members,

Attached are some recent tree news of HK to show the world & it was sadness all the way unfortunately:

1. Flood-Lighting the Mature Albizia in Sau Mau Ping

The Station Manager has great admiration towards this tree when he was taken by Mr. P Mok of Housing Dept in Jan 2006 to visit this beautiful giant. A Station Mail named ' Housing Dept Champion Trees' was also produced at that time to praise this magnificent tree with photos of good images. It is very sad now that this last line of fine trees of HK has gone to such waning & seems to be entering the Spiral of Decline. If nothing is to be done to it, this tree is likely going to die off part by part, just like the 200 year old ' Champion Ficus' in Kowloon Park.

There is a lack of research data on tree's reaction to constant lighting around the world because in most Western nations, Mature Trees would not usually be flooded with strong light throughout the night in the name of visual pleasure. Trees have been in existence on this planet for over 200 million years & the world has invented flood-lighting for less than 100 years. Trees in their natural habitat will not be flood-lit throughout the night. There are already over 100,000 species of trees discovered & we do not know which one would enjoy flood-lighting all night. Would strong light not disturb the physiology of a Mature Tree in its sleep? If some would say it is proper to light up a Mature Tree all night long, can they provide valid research to convince the world?

As for any good landscape, it is always ' Mother Nature makes the rules, not us '. If we go against Mother Nature, we would usually obtain an opposite effect, not matter how we use our words to provide the cosmetics.

2. Concreting Tree Roots on ground & slopes

Some of us do not seem to appreciate that trees, like animals, need also to breathe. Trees do not have a circulation system like animals & tree roots get their oxygen from only nearby. If this oxygen is depleted, by soil compaction or flooding, tree roots will die.

When tree roots die, the canopy above will wither gradually because it would lack the water & nutrient supply from below. Then diebacks will appear & tree parts may fall to hit something or somebody below. In HK, we tend to call this an ' Act of God'.

But is it really ??

3. Topping at a Tsuen Wan School

From the picture so shown in the newspaper cutting, this might as well be called Tree Butchery instead. What is ironical is that it happens at a school, where they would preach our young to respect life. Is any tree not a life? Do we mutilate a person if he/she grows too tall??

If Leung King Estate got punished by topping without approval, then why should this incident get away? Are they private trees, & should private trees receive no respect?

It is a general misunderstanding that any tree growing tall will collapse. If the tree has been well cared for, this worry is entirely incorrect. If a tree would collapse after attaining a certain height, there will be no standing Mature Trees in the forest, or even anywhere in Western cities. What the HK public need to understand is how trees grow & die, yet they can not get the correct information except from our Station, & our Station can only write in English.

Sad to see our Mature Trees disappearing one by one due to our mal-practice. HK is seen to be without basic tree care by international standard for our many Mature Trees. Then what trees are we going to leave to our next generation ? Tiny topped trees in the name of ' flowering' from inadequate China nurseries? Do we call this our good landscape??

Then who should be responsible for all these ??

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- Free Arboricultural Consultation to Political Parties (DP)

To: Board of Directors, The Democratic Party of HK (DP)

From: ISA HK/China Station

Dear Sirs,

Free Consultation on Tree Related Issues to DP

We are ISA HK/China Station, an Associated Organization of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA; www.isa-arbor.com) for the region of HK, Macau, Taiwan & China. We currently have over 390 Station Members from all walks of life including Civil Servants, Academics, Engineers, Architects, Consultants & Contractors working in the landscape industry. We have been rather low key in our existence because we are not an activist group like a lot of the NGO's. We only focus on trees & tree care, practically nothing else. Our official correspondences are in English since we circulate overseas, although we all understand Chinese.

The Arborist Profession mainly involves Tree Care, including Tree Selection, Tree Installation, Tree Maintenance, Tree Pruning, Tree Transplantation, Tree Inspection, Tree Risk Management & Tree Climbing. ISA HK/China Station now governs the 41 no. of Certified Arborists (CA) in HK & we organize CA exam in HK every April & October. We are the true specialists in tree care & practice by international standards. We also have a Code of Honour to abide Integrity, Professionalism & Participation into our society with an attitude of fact-finding & truth-telling.

Ever since the falling apart of the 200 year old ' Champion Ficus' in Kowloon Park a little while ago, our Station has received communication from Station Members urging us to positively approach the relevant Govt Depts & public sector for exposure of proper tree care to protect our precious trees, which are getting fewer by days for one reason or another. After some consideration & discussion, we have decided to open ourselves to the public for free consultation on arboricultural matters over e-mail & phone call. The CA Family of our Station would also entertain invitation in giving Free Arboricultural Seminar to anybody subject to the CA Family's convenience. The Station Manager below can be contacted at egc@netvigator.com or 9090 6719 from 8 am to 10 pm everyday for such arrangement. DAB is welcomed to contact him anytime for anything relating to tree affairs in HK/China for free advice.

ISA HK/China issues a Station Mail weekly on our local tree affairs in English circulated to arboricultural organizations in HK, Macau, Taiwan, China, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand & USA. Anyone is welcomed to be included in the circulation. Samples of our Station Mail are attached for your interesting reference & DP is welcomed to come on list of our circulation anytime. No cost or charges is involved hidden or expressed for this service.

ISA HK/China also maintains a Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com to keep some of our Station Mail on display to the public. However, photos or images would not be attached in full due to the Blog size allocated by the web.

Trees are an important part of our environmental protection because trees are the community centre for all wildlife on land. The benefits of trees are too many to mention & a summary is produced by ISA at www.treesaregood.org open to the world. DLO of the HK Govt is the coordinating Dept of any tree issue on Govt Land & keeps the gate for any application for Tree Felling, Tree Transplantation, Tree Pruning & Master Landscape Plan. In the longer run, ISA HK/China would like to see an Arborist Report is to be required for this kind of application at every Govt Dept & let Arborists take the legal & technical risk in the assessment. After all, Western Nations would not ask their Lands Dept to assess trees. It would be their Arboricultural Office doing the job & taking the liability. In the present political environment in HK, ISA HK/China can offer help indeed.

DP is by far an influential political organization in our Govt & DP can demand policies affecting the quality of life in HK. Many a times in the past our activists have requested Tree Laws to be proposed at Legco, but who are qualified to draft Tree Laws? Would not education come first to achieve a general understanding & acceptance within our society before Tree Laws are drafted for the sake of social harmony? ISA HK/China can certainly help in providing international experience in this aspect.

Thank you all Sirs for your time & DP is welcomed to contact us anytime for anything relating to tree issues.

Serving our society well is the commitment of any good Arborist in the name of Participation.

best regards,

Sammy Au
ISA HK/China Station Manager
ISA Chief Proctor for the HK/China Region
ISA Certified Arborist / Certified Tree Climber no. ML-0174AT
International Tree Failure Database (ITFD) Coordinator for HK/China
Independent Tree Specialist to the HKSAR Govt
Lecturer for Tree Supervision at CITA

ISA HK/China --- Free Arboricultural Consultation to Political Parties (DAB)

To: Board of Directors, The Democratic Alliance for Betterment of HK (DAB)

From: ISA HK/China Station

Dear Sirs,

Free Consultation on Tree Related Issues to DAB

We are ISA HK/China Station, an Associated Organization of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA; http://www.isa-arbor.com/) for the region of HK, Macau, Taiwan & China. We currently have over 390 Station Members from all walks of life including Civil Servants, Academics, Engineers, Architects, Consultants & Contractors working in the landscape industry. We have been rather low key in our existence because we are not an activist group like a lot of the NGO's. We only focus on trees & tree care, practically nothing else. Our official correspondences are in English since we circulate overseas, although we all understand Chinese.

The Arborist Profession mainly involves Tree Care, including Tree Selection, Tree Installation, Tree Maintenance, Tree Pruning, Tree Transplantation, Tree Inspection, Tree Risk Management & Tree Climbing. ISA HK/China Station now governs the 41 no. of Certified Arborists (CA) in HK & we organize CA exam in HK every April & October. We are the true specialists in tree care & practice by international standards. We also have a Code of Honour to abide Integrity, Professionalism & Participation into our society with an attitude of fact-finding & truth-telling.

Ever since the falling apart of the 200 year old ' Champion Ficus' in Kowloon Park a little while ago, our Station has received communication from Station Members urging us to positively approach the relevant Govt Depts & public sector for exposure of proper tree care to protect our precious trees, which are getting fewer by days for one reason or another. After some consideration & discussion, we have decided to open ourselves to the public for free consultation on arboricultural matters over e-mail & phone call. The CA Family of our Station would also entertain invitation in giving Free Arboricultural Seminar to anybody subject to the CA Family's convenience. The Station Manager below can be contacted at egc@netvigator.com or 9090 6719 from 8 am to 10 pm everyday for such arrangement. DAB is welcomed to contact him anytime for anything relating to tree affairs in HK/China for free advice.

ISA HK/China issues a Station Mail weekly on our local tree affairs in English circulated to arboricultural organizations in HK, Macau, Taiwan, China, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand & USA. Anyone is welcomed to be included in the circulation. Samples of our Station Mail are attached for your interesting reference & DAB is welcomed to come on list of our circulation anytime. No cost or charges is involved hidden or expressed for this service.

ISA HK/China also maintains a Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/ to keep some of our Station Mail on display to the public. However, photos or images would not be attached in full due to the Blog size allocated by the web.

Trees are an important part of our environmental protection because trees are the community centre for all wildlife on land. The benefits of trees are too many to mention & a summary is produced by ISA at http://www.treesaregood.org/ open to the world. DLO of the HK Govt is the coordinating Dept of any tree issue on Govt Land & keeps the gate for any application for Tree Felling, Tree Transplantation, Tree Pruning & Master Landscape Plan. In the longer run, ISA HK/China would like to see an Arborist Report is to be required for this kind of application at every Govt Dept & let Arborists take the legal & technical risk in the assessment. After all, Western Nations would not ask their Lands Dept to assess trees. It would be their Arboricultural Office doing the job & taking the liability. In the present political environment in HK, ISA HK/China can offer help indeed.

DAB is by now the biggest & most influential political organization in our Govt & DAB can demand policies affecting the quality of life in our society. Many a times in the past our activists have requested Tree Laws to be proposed at Legco, but who are qualified to draft Tree Laws? Would not education come first to achieve a general understanding & acceptance within the community before Tree Laws are drafted for the sake of social harmony? ISA HK/China can certainly help in providing international experience in this aspect.

Thank you all Sirs/Madams for your time & DAB is welcomed to contact us anytime for anything relating to tree issues.

Serving our society well is the commitment of any good Arborist in the name of Participation.

best regards,

Sammy Au
ISA HK/China Station Manager
ISA Chief Proctor for the HK/China Region
ISA Certified Arborist / Certified Tree Climber no. ML-0174AT
International Tree Failure Database (ITFD) Coordinator for HK/China
Independent Tree Specialist to the HKSAR Govt
Lecturer for Tree Supervision at CITA

ISA HK/China --- Latest Aerial Rescue techniques from 2007 ISA International Conference in Hawaii

Dear Station Members,

One of the missions of the delegation from our Station to the 2007 ISA International Conference was to bring back the latest knowledge & techniques from international researchers. While the other candidates focused on various topics in arboriculture, the Station Manger paid heavy emphasis on Tree Climbing & mingled with the International Tree Climbing Championship (ITCC) competitors & judges to learn the latest equipment & techniques. Aerial Rescue is one such area which is constantly under development in Europe & America. Nearly every time the Station Manager would hear something new from the practitioners by attending a conference on this topic.

Tree Work is very dangerous indeed. In North America, arboriculture is a profession with an average annual fatality rate about 10 times the all-industrial average. More tree workers are killed every year than Firemen & Police put together in the USA. In HK, tree work accidents are not specifically classified by the authorities. However, from hearsay among contractors & supervisors, nearly every company will have tree workers injured on ground or on tree in every season at work. What is not cooked up by the media does not mean it does not happen in reality.

In the Western world, all Tree Climbers are required to learn Aerial Rescue as a protocol as part of their working duty. In the past, most training would encourage the rescuer to bring down the victim from the tree as soon as possible, thinking that this would save life faster. However, recent research has shown that by doing so, the victim may actually become more injured in the process since most rescuers are not medical expert to make judgment on injury, or the Fire Service would find the rescuer getting in the way for their trained procedures, therefore delaying the rescue process instead of speeding it up. Research has also shown that resting the victim on tree to await arrival of trained help, rather than bringing him/her down in a hurry, may actually reduce the chance of further injury. All such information is now coming out to challenge the old thinking.

Attached is information on Aerial Rescue given by perhaps the world's best Tree Climbing training company called ArborMaster in the USA. ArborMaster can be more or less recognized as the official ISA Tree Climbing training agent & has developed many techniques & equipment with which Professional Tree Climbers are using all over the world including the Station Manager. ArborMaster's website is www.ArborMaster.com & is full of good information.

Aerial Rescue is one of the requisition to apply for the ISA Certified Tree Worker (CTW) exam. There are currently over 20,000 Certified Arborists in the world but only around 650 CTW's, even though CTW exam only tests basic skills. CUGE (www.cuge.com.sg) currently offers training programs in Basic Tree Climbing with Australian credentials. CUGE may proceed to the CTW credential later when they can build up the number of their Tree Climbing candidates as time goes along. The Station Manager may be invited to proctor CTW exam in Singapore in future when needed. Tree Climbing is already becoming a requirement for Tree Maintenance Contracts in Singapore. It looks like Singapore will be taking the lead in this aspect again in Asia.

ISA HK/China currently has no intention to conduct CTW exam in HK/China until further notice.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

*** Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas.***

Dear Station Members,

Attached & below are bundled Press coverage on the recent Tree Failure of the 200 year old 'Champion Ficus' at Kowloon Park:

1. http://hk.news.yahoo.com/fc/news_fc_hk200tree.html
2. http://hk.news.yahoo.com/070814/60/2dkvp.html
3. http://hk.news.yahoo.com/070818/60/2dvql.html

This Station has never thought such Tree Failure which is frequent nowadays in HK/China, have attracted so much media attention in the past weeks. It just shows the HK public is becoming aware of our current tree affairs & demand improvement.

It appears among the comments from the media that the general sentiment is that of mistrust & disappointment towards how LCSD has been handling our Mature Trees. Everything negative has been said about LCSD, & hardly any sympathy but suspicion was shown for their explanation. In return, the media demanded better Tree Care on our Old & Valuable Trees (OVT) & some expressed doubts for their existence in the long run.

From the information so given, this Station has the following thinking:

1. It is not known in the ISA World that a 200 year old tree ripped apart for 1/3, could ever be recovered to its former glory by any of the current known techniques. The wounds are far too big to be compartmentalized. We shall wait & see how LCSD will use their better skills to recover this 'Champion Ficus' & will be most willing to learn from their treatment, if successful.

2. Decay Detecting Devices (DDD) such as Resistograph, Tomograph & Root Radar were demonstrated in full at the Regional Arboricultural Seminar in Singapore in April 2007 at which the Station Manager was present. The Station Manager asked a question at the British expert from Fujimura (Europe) that whether DDD could predict precisely the decay situation in a tree & the answer was 'No'. He was told that the wood density, moisture content & microorganisms present could deviate the results. The final assessment would still depend on the experience of the arborist to make an interpretation. It would be like a doctor receiving the best surgical tools in the world, but would still need to know how to utilize the findings. Let's hope with all these expensive tools on hand now, LCSD can diagnose & treat our Tree Failures especially for the OVT.

3. At the 2007 ISA Internatinal Conference in Hawaii, several presentations from international experts focused on the wisdom of using DDD against the traditional expertise of the Tree Assessor on diagnosing Tree Failure. One presentation by a British arborist was given the name of 'Putting the Cart before the Horse', laughing at some Tree Assessors rushing to use DDD instead of relying on running basics. The Station Manager was rather impressed with the presentation & found using hand-drill & mallet would be just as good for initial diagnosis, rather than diving straight at the complication of deploying DDD. This presentation can be obtained on request from ISA HQ.

4. With all these money spent on purchasing expensive DDD, would it not a cheaper & better alternative to send down staff to receive Tree Failures training at CUGE in Singapore this week? Prof. Mattheck's Workshop will cover DDD to explain their advantages & disadvantages. Is Prof. Mattheck's teaching not good enough for us? Then where should we go for it??

5. Station Mail is now circulated around the Pacific Rim from Japan to New Zealand to many arbor experts in the region. If any of them reckons our 200 year old 'Champion Ficus' ripped apart 1/3 at the trunk can be saved to its former glory, this Station will brush its ear to listen & publish the information.

6. What happens if this 200 year old 'Champion Ficus' eventually dies from the current treatment? Would it be an 'Act of God' again?

Mature Tree Failures are getting more interesting each day in HK/China indeed.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- ChinaTree News (Why China can not produce quality Landscaping Trees?)

*** Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas.***

Dear Station Members,

The attached piece of news came out from a national newspaper in China. It showed a 'Model Tree Farm' in China producing what they would reckon as 'quality landscaping tree'.

By international standards, arborists would look at a quality landscaping tree for the followings:

1. Central Leader --- A straight stem from bottom to top for growth form prediction & good structure.

2. Taper --- Trunk & branch narrowing from base to tip for maximum wind resistance.

3. Live Crown Ratio (LCR) --- Height of foliage / Height of tree. A 67% LCR is most desirable because it proves the tree has enough foliage to carry out Photosynthesis & good wind resistance.

4. Strong Branch Attachment (SBA) --- Diameter of branch / Diameter of Stem to be less than 0.5 at point of union for SBA. This is for good wind resistance against breakage.

5. Adequate Sized Rootball --- Recommended rootball size is 10 x DBH for maximum transplantation survivability & rapid recovery after transplantation.

The above are just a few of the most obvious requirement for good nursery stocks in Western Nations.

Let's now see whether this 'Model Tree Farm' can meet the international requirements.

1. Central Leader --- The Central Leaders for a lot of trees so shown went straight up for a while, but then branched out to form Co-dominant Stems or Multi-Branching.

2. Taper --- hardly any Taper can be detected from these trees.

3. Live Crown Ratio --- Most of the trees have a LCR below 40% as far as the picture can tell.

4. Strong Branch Attachment --- At the branch unions, it can be seen that SBA does not happen for a lot of the shown trees, making them vulnerable to break in wind.

5. Adequate Sized Rootball --- The trees were planted very close to one another. It appeared that the tress were only 2 m apart. During lifting, especially for the trees in the centre, roots of the adjacent trees will get in the way. To drag a tree so heavy & tall from the middle of the planting in this scenario, machines rather than humans would need to be deployed. However, machines are unlikely to enter this jungle of trees while they are planted so close to each other & human labour would seem to be the cheapest alternative. And how much heavy can human labour uplift ?? If not, the rootball will have to be trimmed very small to facilitate lifting & the tree is likely to be topped for dragging out among other trees. The trees so seen grown in a 'good' form will come out like match sticks with football-sized rootballs for use in the landscape.

Then why can't our brothers & sisters try to produce landscaping trees to international requirements?

It is because they produce trees with their forestry production methods. Forestry trees are produced for economic values & Taper, Live Crown Ratio & Strong Branch Attachment are not desired. Forestry trees will be logged out at the end & therefore a 10 x DBH rootball is not a consideration. In commercial consideration, who would like to buy a wooden pillar with Taper & SBA anyway? Excessive branches are wastes & will require labour to cut off. Then the wastes would require transport to dump. Customers would buy only clean logs without branching & very straight stem without rootball. Our brothers & sisters are simply producing landscaping trees in a complete wrong manner !!

What is seemingly hard to change in China is not the construction of the nation, but the mentality of the people. In Chinese, we say ' 江山易改，品性难移'. For those of us who must buy from the Chinese & have to follow their supplying standards, we wish them good luck. However, bringing them down to our territory is likely to increase maintenance & to produce Tree Failures in the longer run. We may buy cheap for a quick fix, but ruin our landscape for our children. The many Tree Failures in the past year have given facts for themselves. Is that not even good enough to make us think twice? If not, why not ??

Would anyone now doubt why ETF was set up 3 years ago to give an example of quality landscaping trees to our brothers & sisters in China?

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Aftermath of the falling apart of the 200 year old 'Champion' Ficus

*** Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas.***

Dear Station Members,

Further to the media report of the falling apart of the 200 year old 'Champion' Ficus by the newspapers yesterday, the event was shown at the Main News at 6.30 pm at TVB as a rare occasion. More media comments are given in the attached newspaper cutting & the link below:

http://hk.news.yahoo.com/070814/12/2dktc.html

This Station felt that this incident has attracted more publicity than the falling branches of the Wishing Tree in Tai Po in 2005, maybe because the public has grown with arboricultural knowledge & would not be satisfied with traditional explanation anymore.

In both media comment & private conversation, this Station has heard only criticism about the treatment this poor tree has received, & sadly never any support on LCSD's explanation. The general sentiment is that of disappointment. Criticism ranged from doubting the ability of LCSD to look after our Mature Trees & even hinted the change of the Tung Govt in 2005 could be related to the falling of the branches of the Wishing Tree !! Our media has truly fascinating imagination indeed.

Station Mail is written with facts & professional arbor knowledge, & is never meant to attack anybody. On the other hand, Station Mail is circulated to the media & is on Blog (http://www.isahkchina.blogspot.com/). The media also frequently call up the Station Manager for comments on tree affairs in our territory. Therefore, they have found ways to study modern arboriculture through straight or narrow.

From all the evidence gathered, this 200 year old 'Champion's Ficus seems to be entering a ' Spiral of Decline' already & very little can be done to it for full recovery. The newly grown part would be attacked by the decaying part because the defense system of this Mature Tree seems to be very weak already. At present, it is rather like an Aids patient receiving a cocktail treatment of medicines. The medicines may prolong life of the patient for a while, but could not prevent the eventual reality, which is death.

From the state it is observed, if this dying 'Champion' Ficus would ever recover to its former glory, it may become the ' 8th Wonder of the Tree World' & a detailed Station Mail will have to be produced to announce such achievement to the ISA World ! Station Mail is nowadays circulated overseas to many Govt Depts & Institutes, & is influential.

If this tree would die, uproar may arise among the media all over town. Our media have never seemed to be happy about the treatment of our many ailing Mature Trees anyway. They would be like sharks hunting blood & would open the history book on our Mature trees to count the numbers. Someone may have to take the blame.

What is happening now for this 'Champion' Ficus may also spread to other Govt Dept looking after trees, since there are altogether 9 Govt Depts involved with Greenery in HK. Greenery or Environmental issues can not ignore trees.

This poor tree is now stuck at a dead end. Apparently very little can be done to it for full recovery. The only imaginary solution would be to consult our Mainland Chinese brothers & sisters for any' Magic Cure' to save this tree. If it does not work at the end, they can take the blame & let the media go after them ...

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Falling apart of the 200 year old 'Champion' Ficus)

*** Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas.***

Dear Station Members,

As predicted by many, the 200 year old 'Champion' Ficus eventually fell off 1/3 of its tree parts at 1 pm yesterday in the rain. It hit & trapped a passer-by, & scared him to pieces. Luckily, the victim was caught between branches & escaped with only a scratch. He may never stand underneath a Mature Tree in HK in future after this event.

The report of this incident is captured in the attachment & in the newspaper links below:

1. http://hk.news.yahoo.com/070813/60/2diaf.html
2. http://hk.news.yahoo.com/070813/60/2dia4.html

It appears that the media has been collecting better history & data of the Mature Trees of HK than this Station. One media has also the excellent foresight to urge the Govt to require an Arborist Report in Tree Work which can be defined as Tree Selection, Tree Installation, Tree Maintenance, Tree Pruning, Tree Transplantation, Tree Inspection, Tree Risk Management & Tree Preservation in Construction Site.

A lot of the Tree Work mentioned will require Tree Climbing. ISA HK/China has already linked up with CUGE in Singapore & Tree Climbing International to provide such training overseas. Our Govt has made laws against Tree climbing in our urban parks & housing estates in the name of safety, & even qualified Tree Climbers are not allowed to climb trees with international safety standards in HK at present.

Arboriculture is all about proper Tree Care & Arborists are trained to look after trees from cradle to death. Arborists are Tree Doctors & Tree Detectives. Arborists in HK/China is governed by the ISA HK/China Station & our Station believes in Integrity, Professionalism & Participation with an attitude of fact-finding & truth-telling. Our Station maintains good discipline & high respect for our Station Members & our CA Family. Arborist in the CA Family are selected individuals to abide to the Code of Honour required of a Professional Arborist. Eviction from the CA Family is the highest disgrace that any Arborist can receive in the HK/China Region. A simple phone call or e-mail to this Station can confirm anybody in the CA Family or not.

Our Station works like a Gymnastic Contest in our discipline. Any Station Member coming in will receive a full mark of 10. If a Station Member does not comply with our Code of Honour, marks will be deducted to until he/she will be terminated. Any terminated Station Member may never re-join this Station as a matter of respect to our Station. Termination is more painful than prison for an Arborist. Eviction from the CA Family may be announced in public Station Mail.

Therefore, Arborists have established ourselves with a new position in the landscape industry in the HK/China Region. In the 2.5 years of history among the current 41 no. Certified Arborists in our territory, this Station has not received one single complaint for mal-practice of any of our Arborists in public or private communication. This Station intends to keep up our image in this manner & let Arborist be someone to be respected in our landscape industry.

Some Govt Depts will be sending large number of candidates to attend the CA exam later this October. This Station hopes the graduated CA from these Govt Depts can join us & carry on our tradition, so that the Arborist Profession will become a breath of fresh air in our Greenery development.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager