ANTARCTICA, a vast wilderness, the last wilderness, unchanged for centuries. Sub-zero temperatures, howling winds, yet, strangely, as a dry as a desert where moisture freezes instantly.

Nature at its rawest, sculpted by natural elements, but bathed in an unnatural light.

It's a wilderness that has drawn Barnard Castle explorer Robert Swan ever since he was 11-years-old and read of the adventures of Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

Every boy has an ambition, a childhood dream, and Swan's was to follow in the footsteps of one of Britain's greatest heroes, all the way to the South Pole. Unlike most boys though, he was driven to fulfil this ambition, and achieved it in 1986.

Nothing on earth motivates man like personal experience and at the time little was known of the damage that had been caused to the ozone layer, that natural screen which protects the planet from the ravages of the sun's ultraviolet rays.

So while Swan took ample protection against the extremes of temperature he would have to endure, it was the last place on earth he expected to need suntan cream.

It was only when his complexion blistered and his skin fell off that he realised there was something awry with the atmosphere. It was only when his eyes changed colour from dark to pale blue that it dawned all was not well. And it was only when the ice cracked under his feet, during his historic trek to the North Pole in 1989, that he knew something had to be done about global warming.

The challenge that lies ahead of him now is as great as that before he became the only man to walk unaided to both Poles. He has to fight against the most debilitating of human afflictions, apathy, mankind's indifference to the environmental dangers facing the world.

As the factory chimneys belch forth their acrid gases, as the car exhausts pollute the air we breathe, as left-on lightbulbs burn away the planet's precious resources, little thought is given by the human race to protecting the world.

Even as we mop up after the floods, or shelter from hailstorms in the summer, we put the freak weather down to powers beyond our control. Both Poles lie miles away from habitation, yet abusing the world affects them and they in turn influence the weather around the globe.

Robert Swan and his team of experts involved in Mission Antarctica have been arguing this for years.

He says: "We'd spent 70 days walking under this thing called a hole in the ozone layer. I'd never heard of it. But when you've experienced it first hand, when you've hand your face torched off, you take the information more seriously.

"Most people are not stupid. They know that there are huge changes going on in our world. They can see temperature problems, floods, climate records broken every five minutes. But it's such a big issue and so terrifying that most people can't register what's going on."

Mission control for the global project lies behind a simple red door in an old bank chambers in Crown Street, Darlington. Innocuous surroundings for such a monumental task. Two floors up, rooms which once housed chartered surveyors are now decked with world maps and fantastic photographs of Antarctica.

Swan, as chairman, heads a team of a dozen staff around the world, all working with different nationalities to save the world from the people who inhabit it.

Unique people with unique skills including ex-SAS major Bronco Lane, a man who has lost fingers and toes in the pursuit of adventure on the peak of Everest; and Dr Misha Malakov, another North Pole explorer who was awarded the rare accolade of Last Hero of the Soviet Union.

Mission Antarctica's managing director, Redcar-born Adrian Evans, gave up a career lecturing to become involved in the momentous project. "Robert is the first man ever to walk to both poles, he is unique on the planet," he says. "But Mission Antarctica is bigger than Robert Swan. He is trying to do something which is not about him."

On the face of it the aim of Mission Antarctica is simple - to help Russian engineers clean up one of countless scientific stations that litter a continent that should remain unspoilt.

Technically speaking, this is a difficult task because the only way to do it is gather up the 1,000 tons of scrap and ship it somewhere to recycle it, in this case Buenos Aires.

But the impact of the clean-up runs much deeper. It is a symbolic gesture designed to persuade all nations who have stations there to clean up their act. If cash-strapped Russia can do it then there are no excuses for the other nations.

And more powerful still is the aim to change the mindset of a whole generation of youngsters who will be adults and in charge when the Antarctica Protocol is up for review in 2041.

This agreement was first signed in 1991 by 44 nations. Nobody owns Antarctica but the countries pledged that it should only be used for scientific and environmental study.

"We are trying to make sure that when 2041 comes along we don't rape Antarctica no matter how scarce raw materials have become," says Mr Evans. "It would be uneconomic at the moment but in 40 years time it could be very different."

The area has been surveyed and stabilised and a BT Challenge yacht was bought and refitted to transport influential people to the site. But when the job is completed, hopefully in 2002, the work continues with a vengeance.

The mission's underlying message - that every individual has a part to play in saving the environment - fits in with the new educational ethos of personal responsibility and good citizenship.

But Mr Evans says: "I don't just want to send out an educational package which will end up at the bottom of a teacher's drawer. We want to create an organisation which can go out to schools and involve schools in it. If we can make an impact locally then we can make a difference globally."

l Men on a mission: read the full story of Mission Antarctica in Northern Eco on November 14.