Tim Smit

Born approximately 1955, responsible for restoring the enigmatic sub-tropical 'Lost Gardens of Heligan', approximately 10 miles south east of St Austell on the mainline railway line from London (one of the few remaining in Cornwall).

Later started the now world-famous Eden project, also near St Austell though to the north, an £80 million part-Lottery-funded initiative of 3 see-through biomes based on those of the World Expo in 1967, Canada, though much larger in scale. The biomes contain different eco-climates loosely based on the different climates found throughout the world - tropical jungle, temperate, and desert. Eden professes to educate people about environmental matters and encourages a greater understanding and empathy with these matters.

Eden receives about 2 million visitors a year (2002) and almost immediately entered the UK top tourist attractions list at about number 4 (behind, for example Tower of London at 4 million). It is a massive and much needed injection of economy to the formerly depressed Cornwall economy.