Fungi Foundation

In a first legal attempt to recognise an ecosystem’s creative rights, the MOTH Collective submitted a petition to Ecuador’s copyright office to recognize the Los Cedros cloud-forest as the co-creator of a song. 🎵 'Song of the Cedars' was composed in collaboration with musician Cosmo Sheldrake, writer Robert Macfarlane, field mycologist Giuliana Furci from the Fungi Foundation, and legal scholar César Rodríguez-Garavito. The forest’s voice is embedded in the song, containing natural sounds of echolocating bats, howler monkeys, crickets, rustling leaves, and even a subterranean recording of the soil taken from the spot where a new species of fungus was collected and described This is the first known attempt in any jurisdiction to establish the 'moral authorship' of an ecosystem as a co-creator in a work, an action that, if successful, will create a legal precedent whereby the natural world is acknowledged as a vital creative force. 🎧 The song is available for free download and on streaming platforms; any income generated through the latter will go directly to the recently established Los Cedros Fund for the protection of the cloud forest. https://lnkd.in/e3sQP_aT 🎶 Listen to the song on Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify, and Tidal https://lnkd.in/eBG5fzdw

🎥 We are happy to share that "The Mushroom Keepers", Fungi Foundation’s first ethnomycology documentary short in India, is part of the official programming at Fungi Film Fest, ALT EFF, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and SERENDIPITY ARTS FESTIVAL! Stay tuned for opportunities to watch the film and attend workshops and talks at these festivals and many others coming soon! 👏🏽 🍄 "The Mushroom Keepers" serves as both a reflection on cultural erosion and a call to action for fungal and biodiversity conservation. 🎬 By exploring the essential connections between fungi and the Khasi and Garo communities of Meghalaya, India, this film challenges viewers to reconsider their relationship with the natural world and invites us all to become stewards of the ancestral knowledge accumulated over generations. 🎞 Directed by Naveed Mulki.

Take a moment to read "Bringing the Fungi Kingdom Out of the Dark," an in-depth look at the significance of the 'Fungal Conservation Pledge' presented by Chile and the UK at #COP16. "The words we use to describe things can frame the way we think about them. Fungi, for example, are neither plants nor animals. This fact could be holding back their conservation. That is because policies and legislation aimed at protecting the natural world are often written in the language of flora and fauna, terms that describe a region’s plants and animals respectively. Fungi, which constitute a separate kingdom in the classification of living things, can end up falling through the cracks." Thank you, Anjana Ahuja & Financial Times! https://lnkd.in/eiNE4dEH

"Fungi could be classed alongside animals and plants as a separate realm for environmental protection under plans drawn up by the UK and Chile. The proposal, submitted to the UN conference on biodiversity this week, calls for "funga" to be granted a global legal consideration distinct from flora and fauna, and experts say this could change the future path of the planet." Read more about the 'Fungal Conservation Pledge' in this article by The Week. https://lnkd.in/e-nBjhwx

Join us on Tuesday, October 29th, at the iconic Museo La Tertulia for a series of side events to #COP16. We’ve partnered with the MOTH Project to highlight how nature itself can teach us the way forward in biodiversity protection. All events are free, prior registration and subsequent confirmation: 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/depzgM4v Artwork by Elena Landinez 🎨

The UN Biodiversity Conference #COP16 starts today, and this could be the moment when fungi receive equal protection status alongside animals and plants. Chile and the UK have issued a call for all Parties at the CBD to prioritize the conservation of fungi, recognizing them as an independent biological kingdom in national and international legislation, policies, and agreements. Read the article by Forbes to learn more about this initiative and why it is essential for biodiversity conservation on a broader scale. https://lnkd.in/eatuSaVt

The most significant step in the history of fungal conservation is taking place at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity #COP16 in Colombia. The governments of the Republic of Chile and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are co-launching a Pledge to the Parties of the CBD calling for the ‘recognition of #fungi as an independent kingdom of life in national and international legislation, policies and agreements, in order to advance their conservation and to adopt concrete measures that allow for maintaining their benefits to ecosystems and people in the context of the triple environmental crisis.’ 🍄 👏🏽 We celebrate this groundbreaking and a firm step towards the full inclusion of fungi in all conservation efforts, fostering an integrated vision of nature, and urge all countries to sign the Pledge to ensure a sustainable future, where the Fungi Kingdom as a whole is valued and protected, ensuring an ecological balance vital for future generations. 📰 The official launch will take place on Tuesday, October 30th. In the meantime, you can read all about this major milestone for the protection of fungi and all biodiversity in a comprehensive article published by The Guardian, which includes interviews to Chile’s Environment Minister Maisa Rojas, Fungi Foundation’s executive director Giuliana Furci, the director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Alexandre Antonelli, and biologist and author Merlin Sheldrake. https://lnkd.in/eenpQRuZ Ministerio del Medio Ambiente Gobierno de Chile Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile UK government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew UN Biodiversity

We might not notice it, but beneath our feet, our planet is silently tackling climate change. Fungi not only help sequester carbon and store it underground, but by interacting in various ways with other organisms, they strengthen the resilience of entire networks of species and ecosystems. Listen to this episode of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)'s Podcast, where they unveil these invisible climate warriors and discuss how we can better protect them and their role in sustainable development with Giuliana Furci, founder and executive director of the Fungi Foundation. https://lnkd.in/eVAM2mbX

We are honoured to present “The Mushroom Keepers," Fungi Foundation’s first #ethnomycology documentary short in India 🇮🇳 . 🎬 Directed by Naveed Mulki this short film explores the essential connections between fungi and the Khasi and Garo communities of Meghalaya, India. 🍄🟫 Through poignant conversations with the Elders of these communities, "The Mushroom Keepers" serves as both a reflection on cultural erosion and a call to action for fungal and biodiversity conservation. It challenges viewers to reconsider their relationship with the natural world and invites us all to become stewards of the ancestral knowledge accumulated over generations. 🤩 We will soon be presenting the film at various festivals across the world—stay tuned and don’t miss it!

Mycologists and researchers are racing against time to protect fungi—organisms too often overlooked in conservation efforts—before they disappear. Thank you, Whitney and Atmos Magazine, for this insightful article, a must-read to understand the importance of fungal conservation! It features interviews with mycologists Giuliana Furci (Fungi Foundation), Gregory M. Mueller (Chair IUCN SSC Fungal Conservation Committee), Martyn Ainsworth, (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) and Sapphire McMullan-Fisher; as well as ecologists Adriana Corrales, César Marín (SPUN | Society for the Protection of Underground Networks), and Gabriela D'Elia (Fungal Diversity Survey). Check out the full article here 👇🍄 https://lnkd.in/gW-rhRn6"