GoldenEraIntel

1/ We think of national parks as sacred public lands—preserved for hiking, wildlife, and future generations. But there’s an overlooked layer…

2/ These parks are biodiversity goldmines—home to plants, fungi, and microbes used in over 50% of modern medicines.

3/ Example: Paclitaxel, a major cancer drug, was extracted from the Pacific yew tree—found in U.S. forests.

4/ Researchers call this bioprospecting: finding new cures in natural ecosystems. But here’s the catch…

5/ Much of this research is done on public lands, with public funding—yet ends up behind private pharmaceutical patents.

6/ That raises ethical red flags. Should the public subsidize discoveries that are later commercialized for private gain?

7/ Even worse: the U.S. never ratified the Nagoya Protocol, so there’s no mandate for pharma to share profits from public biodiversity.

8/ Indigenous knowledge often guides these discoveries—but those communities rarely see returns.

9/ So we ask: Are national parks really for the people—or part of an invisible bioeconomy?

10/ Nature isn’t just beautiful. It’s intelligent. And that intelligence is being monetized.

11/ We need a new conservation ethic—one rooted in sovereignty, transparency, and shared benefit.

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