The saviour of Sardinia

Renato Soru (picture La Presse) is the President of the Sardinia Region. On 1997 founded Tiscali and became the most important internet player in Italy. In 2003, at 46, he decided to go into politics, launching "Project Sardinia" on the centre-left, committed to checking the despoliation of the coastline by what he called "savage tourism".
One year later, Mr Soru swept to power as president of the Sardinian region. His first act, to the fury of the developers, was to freeze all building within two kilometres (1.25 miles) of the coast. "This is a measure that will protect Sardinia and Sardinians for the next 500 years," he said.

As more and more of the Mediterranean is essentially destroyed by resort tourism, the message is bound to spread. Mr Soru's new role as "Ambassador for the Coasts" in the UN's Environment Programme gives him the chance to spread the word.

Despite his businness success he is an unlikely politician. You would never call him charismatic: he was and remains painfully shy. He speaks in a soft monotone, as if talking to himself; unlike every other Italian in the world, his hands remain motionless. But these handicaps were more than compensated by his advantages: his money, needless to say, but also his political vision for the island where he was born, and the courage he has shown in facing down the developers.( you can read the full article at http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2742788.ece).