We do not own large areas of undeveloped land and therefore managing biodiversity is not a significant direct issue for the business. Where possible, a number of our sites have taken measures to protect and promote wildlife. For example the Grove Centre in the UK is developing an environmentally friendly land management plan for 60 acres of farmland adjacent to its site. This includes renewing traditional hedgerows and coppicing trees. We plan to carry out a survey of flora, wildlife and insects following advice from the Farming Wildlife Advisory Group and Earthwatch.

Some of our sites also support local environmental conservation activities. For the last seven years employees in Germany have participated in a reforestation programme in the Bavarian Alps by planting 5,000 trees annually – a total of 35,000 by the end of 2001. Our site in Piscataway, US, has participated in several clean up initiatives including the Piscataway Township Clean Communities Public Land Adoption Program.

Amersham Biosciences’ gene sequencing technologies have been used by scientists to study biodiversity, such as rare plants and animals in the Amazon rainforest. In 2001, the business’s scientists worked with researchers from the University of Delaware to sequence for the first time DNA from unusual microbes collected around hydrothermal vents almost two miles deep in the Pacific Ocean. The company is also working with The Zoological Society at San Diego’s Centre for Reproduction of Endangered Species to build a library of the genetic make-up of the Society’s unrivalled collection of endangered species.