Week 4: Santa's Naughty & Nice List

With just a few days left till Santa sets off on his annual journey around the world. Here is the final list check to see who has been naughty, and who has been nice.

Naughty List

1) Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister Peter Kent - the two have been claiming to be unfairly targeted by environmental groups who exaggerate its impacts on nature and people. However their claims are looking a bit shaky since contamination of a major western Canadian river basin from oilsands operations is a "high-profile concern" for downstream communities and wildlife, says a newly-released "secret" presentation prepared last spring by Environment Canada that highlighted numerous warnings about the industry's growing footprint on land, air, water and the climate.

2) Yoshihiko Noda, Japan's Prime Minister - Japan has announced that they will use tax payers funds, originally earmarked to rebuild the country to increase resources of the Japanese whaling fleet heading to the Antarctic with a target of catching 900 Antarctic minke whales and 50 Endangered fin whales under the alleged purpose of conducting "scientific research."

3) Fred Nile, Christian Democrat leader - has expressed his disgust at the Australian Labour Party for changing their policy and now supporting gay marriage.

Nice List

1) Eugenio Lopez III - Chairman/CEO of ABS-CBN Corporation, Manila - The television network was named by WWF as their media partner of the year for their support since January in promoting local environmental issues.

Sidonie Asseme

2) Sidonie Asseme - This female anti-poaching ranger is breaking gender barriers working in Central Africa. She has been involved in many anti-poaching operations and like most other rangers has come into conflict with poachers. One time she and three other rangers were locked in a house and the poachers threatened to set the house on fire. “I was born in the forest and I feel it is a moral obligation to protect the forest and its wildlife,” she says. Asseme is not known as someone who complains, but she does have one request. “We need better arms and logistical support to enable us do our jobs. If I meet the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife this is the main message I will put to him.”

3) Jim Howe, executive director of the Central and Western Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Rochester, NY - The Nature Conservancy has secured a $1million grant from North American Wetland Conservation Act through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and will buy 500 acres of land known as Shaker Heights which is vital for migratory birds, waterfowl and contains spawning areas for many fish.

Special Mention

Santa wants to thank  the 80 year old woman who was run over and died while trying to save a duckling on the road in New South Wales, Australia. Her name is yet to be released.

Week 3: Santa's Naughty & Nice List

The big day is getting closer but some people are acting like they don't want any gifts from Santa this year.  Santa is disappointed with a few people not wanting to play nice in the sandbox. However thoughtfulness is getting others on the Nice List just in the St Nick of time.

The Naughty List

1) Jonathan Pershing, US delegation leader at the Durban Climate Summit - Greenpeace, WWF and Oxfam are all asking the USA to move aside and let the rest of the world move forward if you cannot get with the programme. The USA if fighting for voluntary pledges rather than binding agreements. After eight years of the US denying Climate Change as a issue with President Bush, there were hopes it would be better under Obama. This is yet to seem the case.

2) Matthew Gonshaw - Unfortunately for this poacher Santa doesn't deliver to jails where he will be spending the next six months after being sentenced for snatched hundreds of eggs from the nests of rare birds including ospreys, avocets and golden eagles in the UK. When police raided his London home they found over 700 eggs. This is his forth jail sentence for egg theft.

3) Executive Director, President, and CEO of Paper giant Asia Pulp & Paper (APP)Teguh Ganda Wijaya - promised to move to 100% plantation sourcing of timber for major pulp mills four times several times but has missed their self-imposed deadlines to stop using native forest timber in 2004, 2007 and 2009. Their new dead line is 2015 but Santa is getting impatient considering they are cutting down trees in vital tiger habitat.

The Nice List

1) Nine Greenpeace activists - The Nimble Nine were able to break into a nuclear power plant in risk highlighting the lack of security. This has put the nuclear power debate in France back in the spotlight. This will be a key issue in the next election.

2) Denise and Daniel Villefort - a Malibu couple who have donated $2000 to the reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death of a mountain lion in the Santa Monica Mountains. The Malibu City Council had offered $5000. The total is now $18,700 worth of donated funds. The mountain lion in question was a 7-year-old known to the National Park Service researchers as P-15 who had been fitted with a GPS device to research the animal's movements.

3) Clark Bunting, President of the Discovery Channel - Last week he was on the Naughty List but Santa is overjoyed that Discovery has announced that they will now show the finale of Frozen Planet which deals exclusively with the effects of climate change. Santa lives in the Arctic and is affected by Climate Change too!

4) Datuk Sam Mannan, Sabah Forestry Department Director - the department has recently awarded reforestation contracts to four contractors to restore degraded forest areas in North Ulu Segama, within the Ulu Segama-Malua Forest Reserve in Lahad Datu. This means about 800 hectares of land will be replanted with indigenous tree species and wild fruit trees in the next 12 months to ensure the survival of orang utans.

How to get on the Nice List

Buy yourself some real estate - You can buy an area of the Coral Triangle for as low as $US5 and help save the area. See http://mycoraltriangle.wwf.or.id/coralweb/about/saving.aspx for all the details.

The Hunt for the Tiger Slayers video

The Wildlife Conservation Society has release a short video on the current status of the tiger poaching issue in Asia. This video gives an insight on poachers' techniques, how we are battling them and what the future holds. See how a mobile phone helps convict some alleged poachers.

When I grow up I want to be an Anti-Poaching Ranger

Poaching threatens many of species of animals such as tigers, apes, rhinos and elephants in various countries throughout Africa and Asia. Animals are caught and killed for meat or for their body parts to be used for medicinal purposes which have no scientific support of being effective. In the battle against poaching many places have employed rangers to police these areas. Is there are more honourable job? These rangers are on the ground directly battling underground industries that have no regard for endangered animals survival.

Only days ago a ranger in Lobéké National Park, Cameroon was shot when he confronted a gang of poachers who had returned to collect gorillas they had shot with the intention of selling them as bushmeat. If the gorillas had been sold they would have collected a maximum of $200. Zomedel Pierre Achille was shot in the back and chest and leaves behind a wife and five children.

Poaching has been on the increase in Cameron as the penalties for trafficking A-class species such as chimpanzees, gorillas and elephants has been reduced recently. Poachers that are caught usually serve a term of only two to three months. The poachers are part of an organised crime group and utilise the knowledge of the local pygmy people who live sustainably in the forest but are bribed with whisky.

Lobéké National Park covers an area of 217,000 hectares and is currently patrolled by 22 rangers or "ecoguards". However the poachers are well armed with AK47s which can be obtained for about $100 or even a bag of cocoa. When Zomedel was shot, he and his partner Jean Fils Mamendji were up against about six men. Jean managed to escape with wounds to his arm.

Hostilities with poachers is not uncommon. On the 21st September, three rhino poachers were killed and another two arrested in a shoot off with park rangers. A 306 rifle fitted with a silencer, 18 rounds of ammunition, two knives and two bags were among the items recovered by the well prepared rangers. Had these poachers been successful they could have got around $10,000 a kilo for rhino horns.

In Asia the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is partnering with local governments to increase the amount of ecoguards on the ground. Last year they identified 42 locations where tiger protection is vital. About half these areas now have ecoguards covering regions through India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In Indonesia alone, at least 12 tigers have been saved over the past 12 months through the increased patrolling and intelligence gathering provided by these tiger guardians. This is substantial considering only about 500 tigers remain in Indonesia.

As time goes on poachers are becoming more skilled and knowledgeable and the demand for animal parts is not alleviating. Conservationists are working with governments and policy makers to increase penalties for poaching and tackling local's attitudes towards animal parts for medicines. Meanwhile it is imperative that we support these soldiers on the ground protecting the animals we value so much. They need to always have the best training and technology to ensure every animal under their protection is safe, and be able return home to their families at night. To find out how you can support anti-poaching measures, click here.