Thursday, September 13, 2007

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

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

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。