Our county is teeming with people working towards a greener future for Sussex, the UK and the whole world. SARAH LEWIS profiles ten of the most notable local environmentalists in the area.

Caroline Lucas MEP

Hotly tipped to become the first Green MP after the next General Election, Caroline Lucas is a name that often crops up in eco lists.

She is currently the MEP for the South East England region and is the first ever leader of the Green Party.

She is also an unfeasibly prolific writer, producing reports, books and articles on a wide range of environmental and social issues, including the recent Green New Deal report.

Thurstan Crockett

As head of sustainability and environmental policy for Brighton and Hove City Council, Thurstan is at the forefront of sustainable development within the city.

He is responsible for ensuring climate change is one of the key issues for the council and the Local Strategic Partnership, as well as driving projects such as the Climate Change Action Plan and a programme to cut council greenhouse gas emissions by 20%.

Chris Todd

Working tirelessly for both Friends Of The Earth and the South Downs Campaign, Chris is a key figure in the struggle to make the South Downs a national park.

He was involved in convincing the Local Strategic Partnership to make climate change a priority and has set up a range of important environmental networks, including the recent one within the Community Voluntary Sector Forum.

Chris has been involved in environmental issues across the county for 15 years, often volunteering much of his own time to get things done.

Georgina Downs

Georgina has dedicated the past eight years of her life to implement a change in the law regarding pesticide use, after continued exposure to a neighbouring farmer’s crop spray left her with mouth blisters, headaches, flu-like symptoms and muscle wastage that eventually caused her to be hospitalised for a month.

Her UK Pesticide Campaign started in 2001, and most recently has won a landmark High Court Judicial Review of the policy that allows crop spraying without any warning or protection for the public.

Richard Mehmed

Winner of last year’s Green Champion at the Argus Eco-Awards, Richard Mehmed has probably had one of the most far-reaching impacts at a grass-roots level.

He left a secure career in IT to found the Brighton Wood Recycling Project in 1998 and has since seen more than 22 similar groups open up across the country.

Together, they divert thousands of tonnes of wood from landfill, as well as provide much-needed jobs and training to marginalised sectors of society.

Paul Millmore

Paul has had an extraordinary hand in the shaping of our green areas, being involved in several major countryside conservation projects.

In 1974, he became the first heritage coast officer in the UK, later becoming South Downs conservation officer for East Sussex and then countryside manager for the county.

He pioneered new initiatives in rights of way management, marine conservation and countryside management.

Paul set up the volunteer ranger service and lobbied successfully for the South Downs to become one of the first Environmentally Sensitive Areas.

He is currently one of the vice-chairmen of the South Downs Campaign.

Professor Jim Skea OBE

Jim is a founding member of the Committee on Climate Change, an independent body established under the Climate Change Act to advise the Government on meeting its greenhouse gas emission targets.

He was instrumental in launching the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, chairs the Scottish Power Green Energy Trust and was awarded an OBE in 2004.

Previously, he was director of the Economic and Social Research Council’s global environmental change programme and a professorial fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex.

Norman Baker

Once described as the “most hated man in Westminster” by The Independent, Lib Dem MP for Lewes, Norman Baker, is known for being awkward.

He speaks for Lewes and Sussex on environmental matters in the House of Commons and likes to ask difficult questions.

He was shadow environment secretary between 2002 and 2006 and a fierce opponent of Falmer football stadium.

He currently campaigns for better public transport as shadow transport secretary. Probably not much liked by Seagulls supporters.

Dr Tony Whitbread

Tony was made chief executive of the Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT) in 2006, and has a reputation for seeing the bigger picture, rather than simply focusing on wildlife alone.

He has been at the SWT since 1991, before which he worked co-ordinating the South East’s various wildlife trusts’ response to the storm of 1987.

He sits on Environment Agency Committees, Woodland Forums, Local Nature Reserve Advisory Committees, the Regional Advisory Committee for Forestry Commission and the England Woodland Biodiversity Group.

Adrienne Cambell

With her enthusiasm and passion, Transition Town Lewes member Adrienne is one of the leading drivers of the project.

Lewes was an early adopter of the the Transition idea and one of the most successful communities to date, boasting its own energy company and its own currency, the Lewes Pound, of which there are now well over 10,000 in circulation.

She is now devoted full time to the Transition process and often gives talks and help to other emerging groups.