AN online fundraising page set up in the memory of a renowned environmentalist from Crondall who, with tragic irony, was killed by a falling tree on the A287 Farnham Road earlier this month, has raised almost £15,000 for his family.

David John Hoyle, 48, was a social scientist who devoted his life to protecting African forests and natural ecosystems; for the biodiversity they harbour, for the local people that depend on them, and to secure their vital role in mitigating dangerous climate change.

Born on March 13, 1969. the second of three children to Mike and Marion Hoyle, David grew up in Farnham and completed school at Lancing College, before reading geography at Reading University (1988 to 1991), and then a masters degree in natural resource management at Edinburgh (1994 to 1995).

He worked for numerous NGOs, including VSO, WWF, and WCS, which took him to many African countries as a teacher, field project manager and national director.

He married his wife Marceline, in Nguti, Cameroon in 2002 and, on returning to UK in 2004 to manage WWF’s Eastern African Ecoregion programme, David and Marceline settled in Crondall where they would go on to become enthusiastic participants in village life.

David would be one of the first to volunteer help at events such as school fayres, village fetes, bonfire nights and the annual Party in the Park, and just two days before his death he took part in the Crondall Triathlon.

He also helped with the local Scout troop - of which all three of his children have been, or are, members of - and was always very social and often attended the Crondall ‘Fat Dads’, an informal group which meets on the last Thursday of every month in either The Hampshire Arms or The Plume of Feathers pubs.

Andrew Barber, a fellow ‘Fat Dad’, said of his friend: “David’s positive outlook on life has touched many in the community and he will be sorely missed by friends and neighbours in Crondall and Farnham.

“Since his death, the shocked community has rallied around the family and tributes have poured in not only locally but from around the world. David’s life and hard work truly had a global reach.”

David’s life in the village was frequently punctuated by further trips abroad, including in 2007 when the WWF sent him to Tanzania to establish the Coastal East Africa Initiative, which became one of the best-performing of WWF’s 12 global priority programmes.

He returned to Cameroon once more from 2010 to 2012 where, as WWF’s conservation director, he co-ordinated programmes supporting anti-poaching, law enforcement and protected area management across the country.

He also led policy and advocacy work to protect Cameroon’s forests from emerging threats of mining, forestry and agro-industry.

Since 2012, David has worked with ProForest, Oxford, as conservation and land use director, bringing his experience to bear on the challenges posed by the expansion of agriculture in tropical developing countries, thereby making a huge contribution to efforts to reduce deforestation.

As remarkable as his professional achievements, is the way in which David achieved them. Colleagues speak of a man who was a treasured and respected member of every team he worked with. David engaged people as equals in an open, respectful way, always with a smile on his face and a sense of fun.

By cruel irony, after a life dedicated to protecting forests, and evading the dangers of working in remote parts of Africa, David was snatched away by a tree, blown onto his car roof by high winds at 7.10am on June 6 - just five minutes from his home in Crondall on the A287.

Testament to his impact both locally and further-afield, a Justgiving page set up by another Crondall resident Emma Barnes to provide immediate help to David’s family has to-date has raised just under £15,000 - an extraordinary sum given the initial target was just £1,000. See www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/DavidHoyle.

David is survived by his wife, Marceline and their three children, Henry, Kate and Emily, his brother Nick, sister Julia, and both his parents. He will be buried at All Saints Church, Crondall at 11am on Tuesday, June 27.