From rural Kenya to the studios of Hollywood, from the shoreline of Greece to the forests of Thailand, well-known and not so well-known environmentalists are working tirelessly in the struggle to save our planet from destruction. To bring recognition to their work, the United Nations Environment Program created in 1987 the Global 500 Roll of Honor for Environmental Achievement, a sort of Nobel Prize for environmentalists. Here are the stories of the men, women, and young people who comprise that unique list.In profiling the recipients of the U.N. award, authors Winthrop Carty and Elizabeth Lee bring to readers a first-hand look at the people on the frontlines of the battle to save their community, country, and world from environmental disaster. Those profiled include, among others: Mark Edwards, one of the world's leading environmental photographers, who travels from his home base in London to document environmental damage around the world; Michael Werikhe of Kenya, who walks across countries in order to raise awareness for the endangered rhinoceros; Ully Sigar Rusady, the "Green Guitar" of Indonesia, who raises environmental consciousness through her folk songs; Andy and Katie Lipkis, a husband-and-wife team who started an urban tree-planting project in southern California; Chandi Prasad Bhatt, co-founder of the tree-hugger movement in India that stopped heavy logging practices in parts of the Himalayas.Their stories will inspire people everywhere. When it comes to saving the Earth, the time to act is now, and every contribution, big or small, is valuable. Read Less