It was wrapped in a blue bed sheet and we unwrapped it carefully Mr Roberts said

"It was wrapped in a blue bed sheet and we unwrapped it carefully," Mr Roberts said."I saw The Scream as I have seen it in reproductions. In the Sky Bar bar of the Plaza hotel he met Jan Olsen, one of four men on trial for the theft, and Einar Ulving, a "facilitator" who is not facing charges. There the men discussed a deal.However, the following day over breakfast Mr Olsen demanded pounds 300,000 for the painting, and a further pounds 15,000 for expenses, and was shown the money by Mr Walker, in cash, in a deposit box at the hotel.On 7 May, Mr Ulving drove Mr Roberts to his summer house in Aasgaardstrand, 55 miles south of Oslo, where the painting was hidden in the cellar. REBECCA FOWLER The trial into the theft of the The Scream, Edvard Munch's pounds 35m masterpiece, switched from Oslo in Norway, to London this week to discover how Scotland Yard won back the painting for the Norwegians after it was stolen in one of the most dramatic art thefts in recent decades. British police revealed yesterday how they launched an undercover operation to recover The Scream in a carefully planned sting at a Norwegian hotel, after a tip-off from a British solicitor who had been contacted by one of the thieves.The operation was carried out by two undercover officers known as Sidney Walker and Chuck Roberts, who posed as art experts representing the J Paul Getty Museum to set up a bogus pounds 315,000 deal.They gave statements during a two-day hearing at Bow Street magistrates' court in central London to protect their identities because under Norwegian law witnesses cannot give evidence anonymously.John Butler, former head of Scotland Yard's Fine Art Squad, masterminded the operation with Norwegian police, after a secret meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in March 1994."These two officers are the most experienced undercover officers in the United Kingdom, and they had done dozens of operations throughout the world," Mr Butler said yesterday."We had to have a very fluid plan ...The trick is to protect undercover officers, don't lose the money, and try to achieve your objective."The Scream, Norway's most treasured painting, was stolen from the National Gallery in Oslo in February 1994.Two men used a step ladder to climb into the gallery, grabbed the painting and then disappeared.The thieves demanded a pounds 690,000 ransom for the work, completed in 1893, which depicts a waif-like figure gasping with angst beneath a blood red sky, but the Norwegian government refused to agree to their demands.When a British solicitor, codenamed the London Clue, contacted Mr Butler to say that one of the criminals involved in the theft had contacted him.Scotland Yard devised a plan, working with Norwegian police, to recapture the painting. IAN MACKINNON As the deadline for opening bids for the Royal Naval College in Greenwich passed at noon yesterday, one of the key contenders revealed details of its offer. Civil servants from the Ministry of Defence, which will play a leading role in sifting the proposals, disclosed that it had received eight sealed expressions of interest but declined to name the bidders.However, minutes after the deadline passed the University of Greenwich, supported by the National Maritime Museum, outlined its plan which focused on the increased public access to Wren's architectural masterpiece on the Thames.Equally, the university stressed that an integral part of its scheme involved establishing a committee, on which it would have minimal representation, to set guidelines for maintenance to ensure the buildings' upkeep.But once those elements designed to reassure the Government and the public are stripped away, Greenwich wants to amalgamate the college with some of its other sites to cater for about 2,000 students.John McWilliam, the university's deputy vice-chancellor, said that in using the buildings as an educational establishment it would be in keeping with the naval college's past.Greenwich's plan would also result in few of the 300-year-old buildings being changed from their present use as offices, tiered lecture theatres or residential accommodation for students.Of greatest concern in the wake of the announcement of the sale of the 150-year lease was the fate of the chapel and Great Painted Hall.The university wishes that the chapel should be used by the students and local people as a place of worship and for musical performances, while the hall would primarily be used for civic functions by the Borough of Greenwich, though the public would have access to both.The university would slowly assume responsibility for 75 per cent of the pounds 2m annual upkeep budget, the balance paid by the Government.In an effort to enhance the appeal of the buildings, and aid its World Heritage Site application, the university will reduce the current 200 parking spaces within the complex.The other bidders, which have chosen not to reveal their identities, will also have adapted their offers to show that their plans a "sympathetic to the character of the site".The MoD, in consultation with the National Heritage department, English Heritage and other bodies, will assess the suitability of each offer and ask for more detailed plans and presentations with a final decision not expected until the middle of next year.. "If the Government acts on this the UK will be giving very positive signals for others to follow."Most developing countries have much greater biodiversity - variety and numbers of species - but face greater problems in conserving it. A combination of poverty and rapid population growth mean natural habitats are rapidly being destroyed along with tens of thousands of species.The only way of saving them is to protect large areas of habitat and it is now recognised people living around them must be given an incentive to join the protection effort..

Many are unique to Britain.Among the birds is the skylark, which still numbers hundreds of thousands but has undergone a precipitous decline due to the spread of modern farming methods.The shorter habitats list includes the Caledonian pine woods of Scotland, lowland heaths of the kind which once covered much of southern England, and fens. There is a target to increase heathland area by 23 square miles.Drawing up the strategy has taken nearly two years, and involved the RSPB, the network of county wildlife trusts and the World Wide Fund for Nature. Also taking part are small voluntary groups like Plantlife and Butterfly Conservation.The UK is one of more than 100 nations which have ratified the UN Biodiversity treaty, signed at the Earth Summit in Brazil three years ago The strategy is Britain's way of implementing the treaty. "It's important that rich countries should give a lead to the developing nations on conservation," Mr Wynne said.

On the islet of Lundy, in the Bristol Channel, is a species of wild cabbage which only grows there. On it lives a beetle species which is in turn unique to that cabbage.Including both makes the point that humanity should at least try to avoid wiping out any species through its own population growth and economic development, rather than devoting all efforts to charismatic species like the tiger.The UK list includes 10 mammal species, nine birds, three reptiles and amphibians, four fish, 30 insects, 15 other invertebrates, 20 flowering plants and 25 lower plants including ferns and mosses. Now we'll have to see if the entire Government can deliver."The action plans cover popular threatened species found across continents, like the European otter, but there are several obscure ones unique to Britain. Funding the total programme would require at least pounds 100m a year but some of this money is already being spent,and about half of its comes from voluntary conservation groups.Graham Wynne, director of conservation at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "It's a draft strategy which John Gummer [the Secretary of State of the Environment] deserves credit for supporting. Drawn up by government and voluntary conservation groups, the draft strategy will be presented as a model for the rest of the world.There will be individual plans for safeguarding 114 plant and animal species and 14 different types of habitat, all declining or at dangerously low levels.For each species and habitat the plan will set out its present status, how it can be maintained or increased and what it will cost.

It will also be an offence to help anyone else make such weapons.. NICHOLAS SCHOON Environment Correspondent Britain will next month launch an action plan for saving its own threatened species and habitats. The treaty will come into force six months after 65 states have ratified it. The Bill will make it an offence to develop, produce, process or transfer chemical weapons - poison gases and droplets - or build any facility to do so. The Bill will mainly affect the Army's 195,000 ex-regulars and 60,000 Territorial Army members. It will bring in a new power to call up reserves for humanitarian aid, disaster relief and peace-keeping operations, like those in Bosnia and last year's operation in Rwanda, and new measures to safeguard reservists' civilian jobs if they are called up.Fast-track for less serious libel casesA Defamation Bill which would introduce new summary procedures to enable judges to deal quickly with straightforward and less serious libel actions.The Bill would offer new defences to defendants who were willing to offer an apology or compensation - including damages assessed by a judge - to the plaintiff.Chemical weapons production outlawedThe Chemical Weapons Bill is Britain's "instrument of ratification" to fulfil its obligations under the October 1993 international Chemical Weapons Treaty, which has been signed by 159 countries. It follows mounting criticism of the way the NHS has handled clinical complaints against doctors but coincides with a change of attitude by the British Medical Association. Army reservists to get enhanced roleThe Reserve Forces Bill changes archaic laws about using Britain's 255,000 reserves to support the increasing number of military operations which Britain is carrying out in peacetime.