Introduction

The Museum was part of the British Museum until 1963 when it was formally separated by an Act of Parliament. This statute established the Trustees of the Museum as a "body corporate".

The Museum's mission is to maintain and develop its collections and to use them to promote the discovery, understanding, responsible use and enjoyment of the natural world.

The Natural History Museum houses unrivalled collections of biological and geological specimens, the world's finest natural history library and a magnificent collection of natural history art. Many of these treasures are housed in the famous Waterhouse Building in South Kensington, which it has occupied since 1881.

Not only does the Museum maintain and develop its collections, but it uses them in scientific research programmes of internationally recognised excellence, thereby generating new knowledge that is both scientifically important and often of great practical value. The Museum, one of the country's leading visitor attractions, is dedicated to making natural history as accessible as possible to a wide range of people in this country and worldwide, by means of its exhibitions, publications and educational and outreach programmes. It supports all of these activities with high quality staff, services and facilities.

Achievements in 1996/97

The first phase of the new Earth Galleries, the first major Lottery funded project to open to the public, opened to both critical and visitor acclaim. Since opening visitor numbers have increased by 33% on the previous year. The Museum completed a successful fund-raising campaign to save Charles Darwin's home, Down House in Kent. It has accelerated its programme of databasing its extensive collections attaining a target of 140,000 specimens for 1996. The Museum has also continued to advise on, and contribute to, the implementation of the UK's Biodiversity Action Plan co-ordinated by the Department of the Environment. The Museum continues to train systematists in the UK and world-wide and in 1996 it successfully launched an MSc course in Advanced Methods in Taxonomy and Biodiversity in conjunction with Imperial College.

The Museum continues to improve its efficiency and value for money and in 1996 it reorganised its Department of Library and Information Services to increase income generation and effectiveness. In 1996 it succeeded in increasing self-generated income for the eighth year running and increased profit on trading activities by 34% on the previous year. Savings of £180,000 were realised through more efficient usage of energy. In the public galleries a commitment to excellence has been recognised by the achievement of the Investors in People award of March 1997.

Plans for 1997/98

Phase 2 of the redevelopment of the Earth Galleries will be completed in December 1997, featuring new exhibitions ("From the beginning" and "Earth's Treasury") and the provision of new catering facilities. This will add 1,000m of redeveloped gallery space to the total Museum gallery space of 25,000 m.

The programme of temporary exhibitions and events will continue with Gobi Desert Dinosaurs and Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and three high profile events during the year.

A new programme on UK biodiversity will be instigated, beginning with the production of a complete guide to UK insects, in order to increase the Museum's contribution to government led national environmental initiatives.

New specialised chemical laboratories will be completed in 1997/98 at a total cost of £1.9m. The new facilities will allow the Museum to stay at the leading edge of science. It will gain a competitive edge in research through the ability to use the latest scientific methods and will improve the processes in identifying specimens.

The uplift of grant-in-aid of £700,000 will enable the South East roof of the Waterhouse Building to be renewed. Work will begin on the £1.4m project in 1997/98 and will be completed in the following year. This roof is leaking badly, threatening an important part of the plant collections and associated environmental research for government and industry. This will also complete the re-roofing of the main roofs at the front of the Waterhouse Building, collectively of outstanding architectural importance.

A second large gallery for public use for temporary exhibitions will be made available after restoration work, funded by money derived from the increased numbers of visitors to the Earth Galleries and associated commercial activities, has been carried out.

Key Performance Targets
	1994/95		1995/96		1996/97		1997/98
Key Measure	Set	Achieved	Set	Achieved	Set	Achieved	Set
1. Visits (millions)	1.60	1.64	1.60	1.46	1.60	1.80	1.65
2. Number of school children in organised school parties ('000's)	180	200	190	200	200	174	210
3. Number of specimens captured as digital images ('000's)	45	45	90	90	140	235	140
4. Profit from income generation activities (£m)	4.308	4.353	4.284	4.387	4.444	5.86	5.283
5. % of total scientific research and curation funded through research grants, contracts and commissions	20.0	22.0	19.9	21.8	21.3	23.1	22.3