Mushrooms, moulds, yeast, lichen and mildew may get their own taxonomical kingdom ‘Funga’ alongside animals and plants for their conservation.
The governments of Chile and the United Kingdom have prepared a ‘pledge for fungal conservation’. The proposal would be submitted to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) during the upcoming 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) that will start in Cali, Colombia from October 21, 2024.
According to British newspaper The Guardian, the countries underlined, “recognition of fungi as an independent kingdom of life in 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.”
If adopted, flora, fauna and funga would be the three kingdoms — plants, animals and fungi.
In August 2021, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) and IUCN Re:wild became the first organisations to recognise fungi as one of three kingdoms of life.
Fungi have remained overlooked and underappreciated, resulting in their exclusion from conservation strategies and not being protected under environmental laws.
The IUCN noted that no life on earth is possible without fungi as yeasts, moulds and mushrooms play a key role in decomposition and forest regeneration. They are critical for the survival of trees, mammalian digestion, carbon sequestration, maintaining the global nutrient cycle and antibiotic medication.
Daily food items such as bread, cheese, wine, beer and chocolate are not possible without fungi.
According to the Royal Botanic Gardens in southwest London’s Kew, fungi are “distinctive organisms that digest their food externally by secreting enzymes into the environment and absorbing organic matter back into their cells”.
Mycologists state that fungi are also lesser documented. It is estimated that only eight per cent of the total 2.2 and 3.8 million species of fungi are scientifically known and about 2,000 new species are discovered annually across the world.
As fungi are closely related to plants and animals, threats like deforestation, climate change and pollution threaten them equally. The widescale use of fungicides, overharvesting and nitrogen enrichment also impacts them negatively, the IUCN noted.
Giuliana Furci, the Chilean-British chief executive of the Fungi Foundation who leads the 3F initiative, told The Guardian, “This is the most important thing that has ever happened in the field of fungal conservation.”
Moreover, fungi contribute immensely to the environment, especially in mitigating climate change and wildlife extinction as they contribute to regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Citing an instance, the IUCN noted that boreal forest fungi absorb huge amounts of carbon in their root symbiosis with plants. “As decomposers, they can help clean polluted soils. And they can provide a great food alternative to animal foods—which are a driving force behind deforestation and climate change, as the majority of the world’s tropical forests are cleared for cattle ranching and soybean farming to feed the cattle and other livestock,” a statement said.