NPS Benefits-Sharing Environmental Impact Statement

In 2001, the US National Park Service (NPS) began an environmental analysis of the potential impacts of managed bioprospecting and benefit-sharing on the natural resources of US National Parks. This study is believed to be the first time that any country has initiated a systematic analysis of the environmental risks and benefits associated with bioprospecting on a nationwide basis. WFED has been asked by NPS to assist with technical aspects of the study because of WFED's special expertise in the field.

WFED is participating with an interdisciplinary team comprised of expert NPS professionals from every region in the US National Park System. The study will place special emphasis on the impacts on conservation from these activities at Yellowstone National Park, and is being carried out under the National Environmental Policy Act. WFED has worked with Yellowstone since 1995 in connection with NPS' first pilot bioprospecting benefit-sharing program.

Researchers have been collecting biological samples from Yellowstone for more than 100 years for scientific research purposes. Some of these research results have been very valuable (generating hundreds of millions of dollars for private sector firms). The park, however, was never positioned to share in any of the resulting benefits.

In 1997, all that changed. With WFED's assistance, Yellowstone negotiated the first bioprospecting benefit-sharing agreement with a private sector research firm. The agreement was modeled in principle on similar agreements being negotiated in tropical countries where research firms sought access to rainforests and other biologically rich environments to search for leads for new medicines and other products. In turn, firms agreed to share a portion of any resulting profits from successful research activities for conservation and other beneficial purposes.

The NPS study will examine the conservation and environmental impacts of the pilot project first launched at Yellowstone as well as on national parks throughout the US. For many years, researchers have been collecting biological samples from many national parks that protect important biological diversity existing in many different types of environments ranging from caves to forests to glacial ice to volcanoes and hot springs. The study is expected to generate a great deal of interest in the US and abroad. Already, the Yellowstone agreement is considered one of the leading bioprospecting initiatives in the world.

For more information about the study, visit the NPS website.