A 15-year-old eco-warrior who juggles fundraising with his GCSE studies has raised an impressive �15,000 for charity.

While other teenagers might be more worried about scraping together enough cash for a new pair of trainers, Robin Johnson has raised thousands for organisations like Greenpeace, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

‘Human impact’

The youngster built up to his total by organising charity discos, football matches, raffles and cake sales.

“I want to get the younger generation involved in helping to combat climate change and reduce the human impact on biodiversity and wildlife,” he says.

Robin, of Tyndale Terrace, Islington, puts much of his success down to the power of social networking websites.

He says: “I’ve just got a lot of Facebook friends. It’s very easy nowadays with Facebook to launch charity projects, because you can send round a whole load of invitations really quickly.”

The teenager fundraises under the banner of the World Conservation and Wildlife Trust, which he set up with two friends when they were just 11 and still in primary school.

“It was just a hobby in the beginning,” he says. “We just thought it can’t be right that we’re destroying the planet at this rate.

“I had been living on the planet polluting it for 11 years and I just felt like I had to give something back.”

Much of the money goes towards conservation projects, such as the RSPB’s campaign to the save the Sumatran rainforest in Indonesia, and the WWF’s drive to protect the Papua New Guinea rainforests.

He recently collected �2,500 by putting on parties at the Old Crown pub in Highgate Hill, Archway, and charging �10 on the door.

“People ask my why I don’t just pocket the money,” he says, “rather than doing it for charity. But I feel this cause really needs action. It’s much more serious than my petty needs for a PlayStation.”

n For more information visit www.wcwt.org.uk