This effort seeks to fill a significant gap in international conservation initiatives by recognising and protecting fungi alongside flora and fauna.
January 27, 2025
FFungi Staff
FFungi Volunteer
TheFungi Foundation, along withJohn Scanlon AO, former Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES, by its English acronym)They have published a key document to advocate for the inclusion of fungi within the Convention’s framework. This effort seeks to fill a significant gap in international conservation initiatives by recognising and protecting fungi alongside flora and fauna.
“Despite the crucial roles they play in ecosystems and their economic importance, fungi have largely been ignored in conservation efforts. Better recognising them in CITES will help to close this gap and support their conservation and sustainable use. We urge the CITES Parties to take action to strengthen and regulate the international trade in fungi under the Convention, which will also serve to highlight their importance globally.” stated John Scanlon AO, Executive President of the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL).
Fungi were recognised as part of CITES in 2002. However, although they are included in the Convention, no fungal species has been proposed or listed. This represents a significant gap in the protection of fungi against overexploitation through international trade. In addition, there are no explicit criteria for assessing fungal species under the Convention and, if included, they would currently be categorised as “plants”.
The document entitled"Reference Information for Better Protection of Fungal Species within CITES", available inEnglish,FrenchandSpanishIt explains the current status of fungal conservation in relation to the Convention. It also highlights various ways in which the Convention could better recognise internationally traded fungal species. For example, a more comprehensive Resolution on CITES and fungi could be tabled and adopted, or decisions could be adopted instructing the CITES Plants Committee to assess the available evidence on the exploitation of fungi for international trade and the impact of such trade on the survival of species. Any Party or group of Parties may prepare and submit draft resolutions and decisions at a CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP).
Another option could be to amend the text of the Convention to explicitly include thefungusalong with thefloraand thefauna, which would provide a more solid legal basis, although this option is not considered favourable at present.
“This is a step forward as part of our global campaign to explicitly include fungi in all conservation efforts and protect them under legal frameworks. We invite the Parties to submit a draft resolution to the Convention and a set of decisions addressed to the Plants Committee at CITES COP20 in 2025,” urged Giuliana Furci, Executive Director of Fundación Fungi.
At the recent COP16 of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the governments of Chile and the United Kingdom, together with the Fundación Fungi, launched theKingdom Fungi Conservation Commitment.This initiative urges the Parties to the CBD to “recognise fungi as an independent kingdom of life in national and international legislation, policies and agreements, in order to advance their conservation and adopt concrete measures to maintain their benefits for ecosystems and people in the context of the triple environmental crisis”. The initiative has already been signed by 13 countries.
In addition, Scanlon and Furci highlight the proposal submitted by the UK government to the 78th CITES Standing Committee, which provides clear recommendations in this direction (SC78 Doc. 75).
Current scientific estimates indicate that there are between 2.2 and 3.8 million species of fungi, a number potentially ten times greater than that of plant species.Despite their essential roles in nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, plant growth, soil health and food production, fungi have largely been omitted from conservation policies.
Only 781 species of fungi have been assessed on the IUCN Red List, compared with 89,000 animal species and 66,000 plant species.
Fungi are also crucial to the food and pharmaceutical industries, with a notable annual growth of 15% in trade over the past decade. Protecting threatened species through international legal frameworks is essential for ecological and human wellbeing.
The measures proposed in the document"Reference Information for Better Protection of Fungal Species Within CITES"“, will open up avenues to expand research into the importance of fungi for ecological health and to prevent their overexploitation, which threatens their survival.”
The Fundación Fungi, its special advisers and partners can offer technical support to any CITES Party that wishes to move forward in this area.
The document “Basic Information for Better Protection of Fungal Species within CITES” is available here inEnglish,FrenchandSpanish.
Supporting Documentation
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