This year's Croydon Green Champion is a true eco-warrior, having spent the past eleven years fighting to keep the borough's woodland alive.

Rob Sowter, 47, led Croydon's sustainable woodlands group for a large chunk of that time, working towards protecting conservation land from developers by re-introducing habitats lost since World War One.

Although still heavily involved with the group, which concentrated on Selsdon Woods and Kings Woods, he has recently scaled back his work with them to concentrate on a new business he is setting up that turns dying wood into charcoal.

Robert, who was also named the British Conservation Trust's regional volunteer of the year earlier this year and helped to found the Friends of Spring Park Wood in 2003, was delighted to win the award.

He said: "I was chuffed, but I must pay homage to the team that do the work with me. Although I get a lot of the press as the leader I cannot take credit for all their hard work.

"For the past 11 years I have been working to bring wildlife back into our woods by coppicing the trees and woodland growth on a rotation system. Depending on their thickness, the cut off pieces are then taken away and go into making green products.

"The woods need to be able to stand on their own two feet otherwise they will be developed. The best way for this to happen is if we bring back their natural habitats and life cycle. These used to be looked after before the war but nobody has done it for a long time now."

Although still in contact with the BCTV, Robert is now in the process of setting up his own Croydon Charcoal company, that will use weak trees or those that need thinning to make the fuel.

The UK on average consumes 60,000 tons of charcoal a year, mainly for the barbecue market, of which 95 per cent is imported, a figure Robert hopes to lower.

He said: "Why do we waste power fuelling ships to transport other countries' carbon to this country when we can produce some from our own woodlands? Personally, I believe this is the ultimate carbon footprint.

"Croydon charcoal is made from different broad-leaved trees such as hazel, oak, ash and sweet chestnut. The trees selected are both weak and need thinning out. The ground energy they took can then be diverted to feed the strong and healthy remaining trees, keeping the woodland healthy."