For more than a decade, Merck employees around the world have volunteered thousands of hours to work on environmental projects with local groups through our Champions for the Environment program. Through this program, Merck provides grants to support environmentally focused projects initiated by employees at our facilities in communities worldwide.

Each project receives a grant from Merck and is "championed" by a Merck employee on behalf of local not-for-profit partners, including schools, local government agencies and environmental and youth organizations. Grants are awarded to community partnerships for programs or projects that:

• Promote respect for the environment and conservation of natural resources
• Educate employees and the community about the importance of individual and corporate environmental responsibility
• Involve an organization from the local community
• Involve employees to the fullest extent possible

This model initiative has helped to educate employees and community residents through projects such as "outdoor classrooms," clean-up and beautification of public spaces, tree and flower plantings and watershed data collection. Recent projects have included a river walk in Ireland, the creation of a conservation video for Puerto Rican school children and an environmentally-focused summer camp in China.

Champions for the Environment: MSD Brazil

Since 1997 MSD Brazil has worked with community volunteers to educate communities near our manufacturing facilities in Campinas on environmental conservation, waste segregation, recycling and water consumption reduction.

• • Reviva o Rio Atibaia: Rio Atibaia supplies water for 60 cities and 4.5 million people in the Campinas region. The MSD program has helped raise awareness in the community about the importance of preserving the river. As a result, sewage treatment levels in Campinas have increased from 4 percent in 1997 to almost 30 percent in 2004.
• Projeto Refloresta: Launched in 2002, this initiative has contributed to the regeneration of an ecological corridor along the Atibaia River. Six thousand nursery plants from 115 native species were planted in 2004 to help preserve native vegetation.
• The Future Is Now: In 2004, approximately 2,000 children from community schools in the manufacturing community of Sousas were educated on the value of interacting with and preserving the environment. In conjunction with experts and the Puc-Campinas University, nearly 20 teachers and environmental educators received environmental education training.

Other Champions for the Environment projects have included:

Alcala, Spain - Reforesting unpopulated areas with indigenous plants

Volunteers from the World Wildlife Association/Adena and employees at Merck's Alcala facility worked together, using native plants to reforest an unpopulated area on the outskirts of Alcala. Educational lectures were provided by volunteers on the importance of preserving the nearby woods and mountains -- and the proper way to work with the indigenous plants.

Ballydine, Ireland - Improving the local landscape

Working with St. Oliver Plunkett's National School and other volunteer organizations, Merck Ballydine employees helped to build a garden, bird sanctuary and recycling center. Ballydine employees and community volunteers built an aviary and wildlife sanctuary beside the River Suir Killsheelhan, which has the potential to bring significant benefit to the community.

La Vallee, France - Initiating an innovative new diploma program

In a partnership with two local technical schools, and a local waste recovery company, Merck employees in France initiated an innovative new diploma program called W.O.R.L.D. (Waste Optimization Recovery Local Diploma). Through the partnership Merck employees will mentor and provide lessons to students on Waste Management, Safety and Industrial Hygiene and Hazardous Materials, to name a few subjects. Students who complete the program will be awarded diplomas as Waste Recovery Operators.

West Point, Pennsylvania, USA - Wetland cleanup and outdoor classroom

The West Point site worked with a local school to clean up a wetlands area on the school property and turn it into an outdoor classroom. Trees and bushes were identified with markers. Bird feeders and houses were installed and an area was set aside for composting. Additionally, a lecture/work area for the students to study and share their specimens gathered from the nature area was set up in an adjacent clearing.

Hangzhou, China - Environmentally focused summer camp

Working with the Hangzhou Youth & Children Center (HZYCC), Merck employee volunteers launched a series of resource saving activities. Youth teams were set up to study specific resource savings topics. The teams then convened during the summer to display and present their findings. The summer event culminated in a field trip focusing on resource conservation. Employees assisted in presenting information to the students.