The International Congress on Fungal Conservation in Cotonou, Benin, last November drew mycologists from 27 countries across Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia, as a field long ignored by conservation institutions pushed itself into the global spotlight. The gathering, held less than one year ago, reflected the growing momentum behind fungal conservation and the growing role African scientists see for themselves within it.
Who Gets Left to Scramble
For many of the scientists at the congress, the work has meant building knowledge in the cracks left by weak infrastructure and institutional neglect. Madagascar’s first homegrown mycologist, Anna Ralaiveloarisoa, said fungi are “some of the most important things in the world” because “They feed 90% of terrestrial plants. Without them, there is no life on the Earth.” She said she wants people to better understand the importance of fungi, which she describes as an under-studied kingdom of life.
Her work comes with the usual penalties of doing science far from the centers of power. The report says less than 1% of the estimated 100,000 species of fungi in Madagascar have been scientifically described. Ralaiveloarisoa is working on classifying each of the 200 new species she has identified so far, while trying to preserve mushrooms without proper infrastructure, traveling to remote jungle areas without reliable roads or electricity, and working with no other experts to collaborate with in Madagascar.
The article says she is part of an emerging cohort of scientists across Africa who are pioneering the study and conservation of fungi in their home countries. Many of them met for the first time at the International Congress on Fungal Conservation in Cotonou. Several attendees came from African countries where they serve as the only, or one of very few, mycologists in the nation.
What the Institutions Call Progress
At the opening ceremony, Nourou Yorou, described as a mycologist who was recently named general director of the Benin Agency for Science and Innovation, told delegates: “What an exciting time: from almost nothing 20 years ago, fungal conservation has evolved from a little-known field into a dynamic global movement. The challenge is now to plan a future where fungi are firmly placed in the conservation mainstream.”
The report says fungi lagged behind plants and animals in conservation for much of modern history. It says the first organizations dedicated to protecting birds were established in the 19th century, while fungi had to wait until the 21st century, when mycologists from more than 40 countries established the International Society for Fungal Conservation, or ISFC, in 2010, and the first conservation nonprofit organization, the Fungi Foundation, was created in 2012. David Minter, president of the ISFC, said: “Fungal conservation up to the early 2000s was really just a few disjointed, separate voices of scientists expressing concern about the results they were observing.”
The article says the first conservation legislation to include fungi was passed in Chile in 2013. It says the Fungi Foundation helped get the law passed and began to champion the phrase “fauna, flora, funga” to encourage fungi’s inclusion in more conservation frameworks. It says other organizations formed later, including North America’s first fungal conservation nonprofit group, Fundis, in 2017, and SPUN, the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, in 2021. The report says SPUN was cofounded by evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers, who later won the Tyler prize for environmental achievement and a MacArthur “genius grant” for her work in fungal research and conservation.
The article says a “fungal conservation pledge” first proposed at the UN biodiversity meeting of Cop16 in Colombia in 2024 will be discussed again later this year at the biodiversity Cop in Armenia. It says interest in conserving fungi has been spurred by evidence that fungi play a larger role in ecosystems than previously understood, including that 90% of plants on Earth rely on fungi to supply crucial nutrients. It says a recent study found that as much as 36% of annual CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are stored in the underground mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi.
Minter compared fungi to waste collectors performing basic but crucial services that allow the rest of society to function, saying: “But if [waste collectors] go on strike, we sure know that they’re needed. It’s exactly the same with fungi.” He said fungi need protection because they perform crucial functions in all ecosystems and are susceptible to the climate crisis, habitat destruction and pollution. The report says a 2025 study published in Nature found that less than 10% of predicted hotspots of mycorrhizal fungal richness are protected. Minter also said: “In 2010, it was absolutely normal not to mention fungi at all in conservation,” and “At some point in the future it will look strange if fungi don’t get a mention. And the very exciting thing is that, right now, we are at that tipping point.”
Africa Builds Its Own Knowledge
At the Benin congress, African mycologists said they have the expertise, commitment and interest to support the movement in their own countries and globally. In a workshop designed to help local mycologists evaluate the risk of extinction, Sydney Ndolo Ebika, identified as the Republic of the Congo’s first mycologist, offered insights about Termitomyces, a genus of fungi that is “farmed” by termites. Some species are prized as edible fungi throughout much of Africa and can grow to be as large as an umbrella.
Ndolo Ebika’s path into mycology was difficult because when he first decided he wanted to study fungi, there was no one in Congo-Brazzaville to teach him, so he began emailing mycologists abroad to ask if he could join their laboratories. When he later began studying on a graduate programme in Germany, around the same time the ISFC was formed, he sometimes photocopied entire books on fungi because he knew no one in the Congo had access to those resources. He has now established the Republic of the Congo’s first fungarium, where type specimens are preserved to allow mycologists to establish the existence of new species and keep them for future study.
Cathy Sharp has taken a different approach in Zimbabwe, researching children’s knowledge of fungi by going to schools and asking pupils to draw the first thing that came to mind when they heard “mushroom” in their local languages. Most of the pictures were detailed enough for her to identify them by genus, and some could be narrowed down to species. Sharp says she is implementing educational initiatives in museums and schools to preserve this knowledge. She said: “We were the only country in the world at one point to have fungi in our junior curriculum … which we were so proud of,” and “And then during Covid the policy was changed. So when I’m finished [with] what I’m doing now, I’m going to fight to have it put back in.”
Joyce Jefwa, a Kenyan mycologist who researches botany, mycology and soil fertility, said “Africa is still finding its way in fungal conservation.” She said she is hopeful about opportunities to meet other mycologists across the continent and beyond to share resources and learn from what has worked in other countries. Jefwa said: “We have to talk with one voice as African mycologists, so that the policymakers and those who are in different sectors, such as forestry, conservation and environment, can get to know the importance of fungi.”
A few months after the congress in Benin, participants released the Cotonou declaration, intended to address “the persistent under-representation of fungi” in conservation locally, nationally and globally. The declaration was cowritten by participants from four continents and codifies global priorities for mycology conservation, while its name is a reminder that Africa must continue to play a key role in the growing fungi conservation movement. Yorou called the congress “a milestone for the global mycological community and … fungal conservation, both in Africa and across the world,” and said it points the way to a future “where fungi stand as a recognised pillar of global biodiversity conservation.”