The Cotonou declaration, cowritten by participants from four continents, was released less than one year ago following the International Congress on Fungal Conservation in Benin, codifying "global priorities for mycology conservation" and signaling a push for international frameworks to dictate national environmental policy. This declaration, emerging from a congress attended by mycologists from 27 countries, aims to place fungi "firmly in the conservation mainstream" through a unified, top-down approach, as stated by Nourou Yorou, general director of the Benin Agency for Science and Innovation. The declaration's name, according to the report, serves as a reminder that Africa is expected to play a key role in this growing global movement, further integrating national efforts into a supranational agenda.
The International Congress on Fungal Conservation, held in Cotonou, Benin, last November, brought together mycologists from across Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Asia. This gathering reflected what is described as rising global momentum in fungal conservation, with African scientists increasingly positioned within the movement. Joyce Jefwa, a Kenyan mycologist, articulated the necessity for a unified front, stating, “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.” This emphasis on a single, coordinated voice underscores the drive to centralize influence over national policymakers and resource management.
The Globalist Framework
The push for a globalized approach to fungal conservation is further evidenced by a "fungal conservation pledge" first proposed at the UN biodiversity meeting of Cop16 in Colombia 2 years ago. This pledge is slated for further discussion later this year at the biodiversity Cop in Armenia, indicating a systematic effort by international institutions to establish binding frameworks. The International Society for Fungal Conservation (ISFC) was established 16 years ago by mycologists from more than 40 countries, followed by the creation of the Fungi Foundation 14 years ago. These organizations represent the institutional backbone of this global movement, with ISFC president David Minter noting that fungal conservation was once "just a few disjointed, separate voices of scientists" but is now at a "tipping point" where not mentioning fungi in conservation will "look strange."
The first conservation legislation to include fungi was passed in Chile 13 years ago, with the Fungi Foundation actively championing the phrase “fauna, flora, funga” to encourage fungi’s inclusion in more conservation frameworks. Other organizations, such as North America’s Fundis (created 9 years ago) and SPUN (cofounded 5 years ago by evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers, who received elite accolades like the Tyler prize and a MacArthur “genius grant”), have since formed. These interconnected entities and their influential figures demonstrate a coordinated, transnational effort to reshape environmental policy at national levels.
Elite Consensus and National Erosion
The narrative presented by these global actors emphasizes the crucial role of fungi in ecosystems, with claims that 90% of terrestrial plants rely on them and that 36% of annual CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are stored in underground mycelium. Such scientific findings are leveraged to justify the expansion of global conservation mandates. Minter compared fungi to "waste collectors" performing "basic but crucial services," implying that their protection is non-negotiable for the functioning of "society," a term that, in this context, extends beyond national borders. A 1 year ago study published in Nature found that less than 10% of predicted hotspots of mycorrhizal fungal richness are protected, providing further impetus for international intervention.
The congress in Benin served as a platform for African mycologists to assert their "expertise, commitment and interest to support the movement in their own countries and globally." This integration of national experts into a global agenda risks subsuming local priorities under a broader, internationally defined set of objectives. Ndolo Ebika, the Republic of the Congo’s first mycologist, described a difficult path to his field, requiring him to email foreign mycologists and study abroad due to a lack of local resources. He even photocopied entire books on fungi for his home country, highlighting a reliance on external knowledge and infrastructure to build national capacity, which then feeds back into the global system.
Local Knowledge Under Threat
While global frameworks are being codified, local cultural connections to fungi face disruption. In Zimbabwe, Cathy Sharp has researched children’s knowledge of fungi, finding detailed drawings that allowed her to identify species. Sharp stated that Zimbabwe was once "the only country in the world at one point to have fungi in our junior curriculum," a source of national pride. However, this policy was changed "during Covid," prompting Sharp to declare, "when I’m finished [with] what I’m doing now, I’m going to fight to have it put back in." This instance reveals how national educational policies, and by extension, traditional knowledge and cultural continuity, can be altered by external events or top-down decisions, requiring local resistance to reclaim what was lost. The Cotonou declaration, despite its name, represents a further step towards a post-national order where "global priorities" increasingly dictate the terms of national self-determination.