The return of Swampy: Underground eco-hero joins the Heathrow protest

The talking is over. The plans have been made. The mass direct action promised by the environmentalists camping near the perimeter of Heathrow airport will take place from noon today, they promised yesterday – although nobody could rule out a maverick group going off to chain itself to something in the meantime.

Six people were arrested on suspicion of burglary after apparently breaking into the warehouse of a fruit importer, and police linked the break-in to the Camp for Climate Action. Protests would take place around the airport, a camp spokesman said. Some would be big, some small. "We are still seeing people arriving," he said. "There are about 1,200 here."

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Among them was a veteran of former campaigns, keeping his head down and his fame hidden. Swampy became a household name in 1996, after one of a series of protests against road developments pitted green campaigners against the police for the first time. Some tied themselves to trees but Swampy stayed underground in tunnels for a week like a human mole. And when he emerged, blinking into the light, he became a media star.

Daniel Hooper, to give him his real name, was articulate and passionate. He had a cheeky charm and was even prepared to endure makeovers and appearances on television programmes like Have I Got News For You to make his point. But then he disappeared from the public gaze.

Now 33 years old and a father of three, it seems the original eco-warrior has been unable to resist the lure of the climate camp and the biggest environmental stand-off in years. But Swampy's acceptance by the community on site appears to have been dependent on his maintaining a low profile. Visitors are definitely not welcome. "We don't want everyone coming down here and looking at us just because Swampy is with us,"said one camp member yesterday. "He hasn't changed really, but he wants to be left alone now."

The secrecy about the long-planned action has been so tight that even regular protesters claim not to know exactly what would take place. There were long and sometimes heated discussions about what to do, in a community that has chosen to have no leaders and make all its decisions by consensus. But another of the many camp spokespeople said: "The time has now come for civil society to engage in civil disobedience – and that's what will happen tomorrow."

Ben Healey was responding to a call from airline pilots for the protesters to meet them in "peace talks". Captain Mervyn Granshaw, chairman of the British Air Line Pilots Association, said: "We would like to come to a common understanding about carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft." And he added: "Aircraft are minor polluters, air travel is not the fastest-growing source of emissions and most flights, compared with other transport modes, are green."

The campers totally disagree, of course. They have been listening to serious seminars on the subject at the camp all week, from the likes of George Monbiot and Tony Juniper, and reject the pilots' claims. "We're more than happy to discuss the science of climate change with anybody," said Mr Healey, "but right now we're caught up planning for tomorrow's direct action. After the camp is over we will meet them."

Walking towards the Heathrow climate camp yesterday felt like approaching a musical festival, but for the heavy police presence. Families with toddlers, elderly locals and even foreign tourists were also making their way there. Organic food was being cooked using wind, sun or biofuel at the centre of each of the tented neighbourhoods formed in the camp.

No detail had been left to chance, from the provision of environmentally friendly toilets to timetabled daily meetings and workshops. In one tent a group of protesters listened avidly to a lecture on climate change, while just next door another group rehearsed ways of resisting the police. They could be seen being dragged across the floor while seated, in preparation for a sit-down protest.

Somebody at the entrance to the camp handed me a card warning me not to give my name and address to the police. "This [the camp] is the fluffy stuff," he said. "There are other things be.ng planned for tomorrow." Yesterday evening the police presence was starting to escalate, with the appearance of more of the 1,800 extra officers and negotiations being held with camp organisers.

All the while, police intelligence teams and protesters were busy taking pictures of one another. A pair of community support officers were surrounded and taunted by 20 activists dressed as clowns, to the amusement of onlookers.

While most people were insisting their demonstration would be peaceful, would not endanger life and were aimed at the authorities rather than travellers, one tent was emblazoned with the words "Fuck Civil, let's get disobedience". There were rumours that to escape a possible police blockade some protesters had already left and would use it as a decoy. The actions being talked about in the camp ranged from mass sit-ins to office occupations by suit-wearing protesters, people chaining or gluing themselves to gates and doors. Organisers had previously boasted that campaigners will "lay siege" to BAA's nearby headquarters.

Stephen Milligan, another spokesman, said: "We will all descend on BAA's corporate offices and besiege them for as long we can. This is meant to target the corporate criminals that are behind the airport expansion. If the runway goes ahead we will have runaway climate change which will result in millions of deaths around the world."

He added: "This is about building a movement for change and this is just the beginning."

Police have warned that any direct action would be seen as a security threat and could disrupt thousands of airport passengers and staff. They have been dealing with protesters under counter-terrorism laws, which allow them to stop and search and hold people without charge.

When residents from the surrounding villages of Harlington, Sipson and Harmondsworth first heard that a massive climate camp was to be pitched at Heathrow airport, where they have spent years campaigning against controversial developments, they were delighted. If a third runway and an accompanying sixth terminal (as has been mooted) is built, the number of flights every year will rise from 473,000 to 710,000. But existing flights already pump 31 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. The consultation on the plan begins next month.

Christine Taylor, a resident of Sipson and vice-chairman of NoTRAG (No Third Runway Action Group), which has been leading the local campaign for five years, welcomed the extra attention but was also worried that illegal action could harm years of good work. "This group was virtually unknown to us until very recently," she said. "We only heard of the climate camp really when they decided to come to the area, so an awful lot has had to be taken on trust. If that trust is misplaced and there is some sort of serious disruption and illegal acts these could jeopardise our own campaign for ever."

And Mrs Taylor warned that "illegal action may end up affecting local campaigners, not just the activists who are passing through. You stand the risk of being involved with people associated with direct action and being tarred with the same brush."

Swampy travelled to Heathrow last week from Tipi Valley, a new-age commune close to the village of Abergorlech, north of Carmarthen in west Wales. Friends in the commune explained that he had embraced the battle to stop airport expansion. "I doubt he will get into trouble," one said. "He will keep his head down, but he still cares about the environment. He still has his principles but he just doesn't shout about them like he used to. I would bet that most people don't even know who he is, and he probably won't tell them."

Swampy tries to be as self-sufficient as possible at home in Wales, in a community where there is no electricity or running water. His tent complex, which he shares with his partner and their three children, is in an isolated area reached by a footpath half a mile long. The family grow most of their own food, wash in a nearby stream and use an eco-loo.

"I wouldn't swap places with anyone," he reportedly said recently. "There's no crime, no noise and no pollution. We don't have any mortgage or bills to pay, so life is great." Swampy said he will a remain a free spirit, but added: "I'm older now and I've mellowed."

Further browsing: www.friction.tv/debate.php?debateno=898; http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article2874123.ece

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