Fungi Blog

January 27, 2025

Fungi Foundation Calls on CITES to Strengthen Controls Over Trade in Fungi to Reinforce Fungal Conservation

This effort aims to fill a significant gap in international conservation initiatives by recognizing and protecting traded endangered fungal species alongside animals and plants.

December 24, 2024

Another Fungal Year: Highlights from 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, we want to share and reflect on a year full of milestones, global collaborations, and innovative initiatives that further our mission to elevate fungi as essential to life on earth.

October 29, 2024

Los Cedros Cloud-Forest: A Legal First for Nature’s Creative Rights

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.

October 16, 2024

Chile and the UK Called on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to Take Global Action for the Conservation of Fungi

"Fungal Conservation Pledge" is an initiative aimed at establishing fungi as an independent and prioritized kingdom of life within global biodiversity agreements.

August 14, 2024

At Last! Fungi Could Make It into Chilean Classrooms

Chile has a new curriculum proposal, and we are filled with hope that children and teenagers across the country will soon become the naturalists we so urgently need.

May 27, 2024

Endemic species of fungus in Chile has been found after being lost to science for 40 years

It's a fungus that had only been seen once in 1982 and was rediscovered in the Nahuelbuta mountain range by the Fungi Foundation.

April 22, 2024

Mycelia: Inside the Creation of a Magical Fungal World

We spoke with Danielle Caners, the visual artist behind the breathtaking ‘Mycelia,’ about her creative process, inspirations, and her work in general.

April 11, 2024

The Art of Noticing: A workshop designed to encourage appreciation of fungi’s form, function and beauty

At the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Wisley, in the heart of the UK Surrey countryside, Gemma Hardy and Jassy Drakulic led a workshop to address ‘fungal blindness’.

April 2, 2024

Fungi Education at the Brazilian Congress of Mycology

Review a summary of our participation in the Brazilian Congress of Mycology held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

March 12, 2024

Historic step: National Geographic Society’s includes fungi in its wildlife definition and launches the short film “Flora, Fauna, Funga”

Additionally, National Geographic magazine has published a historic cover story on fungi, marking the first time in its 130+ year history that fungi were photographed as the cover story.

December 20, 2023

Fungi Education 2023 Year-End Wrap-Up: Cultivating Minds, Spreading Spores

The Fungi Education 2023 Year-End Wrap-Up highlights the Fungi Foundation's accomplishments, including a remarkable surge in course enrollment, the publication of a Spanish curriculum, collaborations with partners like North Spore and Syzygy Science, and impactful outreach efforts in the tri-state area. The program's success is attributed to global support, and the Foundation anticipates continued growth in spreading fungal knowledge.

December 18, 2023

2023 recap: a successful year working for the fungi

This year has been filled with milestones, and we are delighted to share them. Here’s a glimpse of some of them.

November 14, 2023

Wonders at STANYS 2023: Inspiring Educators and Students Alike!

The 2023 STANYS conference in Syracuse celebrated fungi education with engaging presentations by Diana Richards from the Fungi Foundation. Teachers embraced free resources and received mushroom grow kits, fostering a new appreciation for mycology in classrooms. This marked a milestone in the foundation's mission. Stay tuned for more updates on their educational initiatives.

November 2, 2023

What did your elders tell you about fungi?

Help us unveil and recognize ancestral uses of fungi. We have cataloged over 200 traditional uses and/or relationships with fungi in 45 different countries, creating a comprehensive global ethnomycological index that incorporates available public information, in order to protect this precious knowledge. We are now looking to learn what has been taught from one generation to another through oral history.

October 25, 2023

Inspiring Young Minds: A Day of Fungi Education at Foundry Montessori School

At Foundry Montessori School in New York, Diana Richards from the Fungi Foundation led a captivating educational journey into the world of fungi for young students, fostering their curiosity, hands-on exploration, and creative engagement in a day filled with wonder and learning.

October 25, 2023

For the Love of Fungi Mushroom & Arts Festival, New York

The "For the Love of Fungi" event at Stone Mountain Farm in New York featured educational activities, guided mushroom forays, art, cooking demonstrations, and a focus on the importance of fungi in ecosystems, leaving attendees with a newfound appreciation for these remarkable organisms.

September 13, 2023

Educating the Fungi Enthusiasts of Tomorrow: What is the Fungi Foundation Fungi Education Program?

More information about our Education program

August 15, 2023

Unearthing the Hidden Kingdom: A Quest for Fungi Education in Our Schools

By recognizing fungi's ecological role, medical potential, and agricultural benefits, we empower students to be environmentally conscious and innovative contributors for a sustainable future.

August 9, 2023

An Adventure-filled Mushroom Exploration

Diana, the education lead of Fungi Foundation, takes a group of enthusiastic middle school children from Team Wilderness on a captivating mushroom exploration hike, igniting their curiosity about fungi's ecological roles and forming lasting connections with nature.

August 7, 2023

Flora Fauna Funga: 2023 Updates

The case for adopting the "3rd F" is gaining momentum. Review the latest news about it.

July 28, 2023

A big break in the case of the lost Big Puma Fungus

A fungus that hasn't been seen in more than 35 years may have been rediscovered by a group of mycologists.

June 16, 2023

Six Months of Progress: Fungi Education Program Reaches New Heights

April 22, 2023

10 reasons why fungi are crucial to the planet

Fungi may hold the key to reversing what we’ve broken, but we only know about a tiny fraction of all the biodiversity and magic of this kingdom. They are plants’ best friends, they heal us, they are responsible for numerous scrumptious foods, and they make sustainable biomaterials.  We owe them life as we know it and we could not exist without them. On this #EarthDay we chose ten reasons why fungi are crucial for life on the planet.

April 12, 2023

‘Dark Taxa’ and New Discoveries

The discovery of wide genetic variety in fungal species previously thought to belong to the same evolutionary lineages, termed “cryptic species' ', has prompted scientists to re-visit traditional scientific naming systems and call for more research into fungi taxonomy. But what is the best way to reconcile traditional scientific naming systems with new methods of species identification?

March 1, 2023

5th Grade Fungi Education Lesson in New Jersey

February 28, 2023

New Species of Magic Mushroom Named After Legendary Mycologist Paul Stamets

Paul Stamets’ work of 40+ years as a mycologist inspired the character of Lieutenant Stamets in the “Star Trek: Discovery” series, made him the protagonist of the documentary Fantastic Fungi and has now been immortalized with the species Psilocybe stametsii (Dentinger & Furci, 2023).

December 19, 2022

Our free mycological curriculum is ready!

What if students all around the world had the chance to learn about fungi, their possibilities and the important roles they play in every ecosystem? That is the question we want to answer with the Fungi Education Program.

November 23, 2022

Fungi Education Year End Review

A recap of Fungi Education’s first year!

November 15, 2022

Butyriboletus loyo: surviving extinction

We want to celebrate a decade of work by looking back on what these intense, wonderful and productive years have been and share these memories with you with some Fungi Foundation Chronicles. Here's the story about one of our favorite species: Butyriboletus loyo.

November 14, 2022

Fungi Education at Foundry Montessori Preschool

A write-up about our visit to the Foundry Montessori preschool in Cold Spring, New York!

November 4, 2022

NYMS Fungus Festival

A write-up about the October 2022 Fungus Festival in NYC that we participated in!

September 20, 2022

Fungi Foundation: 10 cycles around the sun!

This month we get to celebrate our 10th anniversary! We’ve come a long way and the road has been joyous, challenging, and fulfilling. We want to take a trip through time to remember what 10 years of working for the fungi have been like.

August 13, 2022

"For the Love of Fungi" Event

A write-up about ‘For the Love of Fungi’ event that we participated in!

August 3, 2022

Campers Learn Fungi Education at the Nature Place Day Camp

A write-up about our August 2022 trip to the Nature Place Day Camp in NY!

July 25, 2022

Fungi Exploration with Team Wilderness

A write-up about the Fungi Foundation's recent lesson with Team Wilderness!

June 15, 2022

Coloring You: Fungal Art Contest 2020

A write-up about the Colorearte 2020 Contest and the Fungi Foundation’s involvement

June 13, 2022

Activities With Kids in Southern Chile “The Truth of the Woods”

A writeup to one of our school visit in Southern Chile

June 11, 2022

Education Tour in Chilean Patagonia

A writeup of our June 2022 Education Tour in the south of Chile

June 9, 2022

Fungal Advocate receives NatGeo's Leadership Conservation Award setting a historical precedent for Fungi

Giuliana Furci, Foundress and CEO of Fungi Foundation, becomes the first mycologist to win the National Geographic Conservation Leadership Award.

May 26, 2022

Teaching Fungi Education: Hands-On Activities for Every Child

Recap of our May 2022 Webinar

April 29, 2022

The world of mycelium in a New Jersey Classroom

A recap of our April 2020 school visit.

December 22, 2020

The Influence of Hallucinogenic Mushrooms on Christmas

The story of Santa Claus is not the creation of Coca-Cola, nor Saint Nicholas or a children’s story, it exists because of a small living being with great powers: the Amanita muscaria mushroom.

September 19, 2020

Old-growth Forests: The Importance of Ancestral Ecology

An old forest is a biological treasure that has been formed over a millenary ecological succession.

September 16, 2020

Fungi Foundation Global

Fungi Foundation goes global; Chilean non-profit opens US chapter and incorporates international board members.

September 16, 2020

The Urgency to Protect Fungi

With an estimated 10% of fungi species known, it is necessary to know what type of fungi there are and what role they play in their habitat in order to protect ecosystems.

A Look Back at 2022: A Year in Review

A free mycological curriculum, a cover in Science Magazine, an article in the New York Times, new partnerships and collaborations and much more!

Open Letter on the crucial role of fungi in preserving and enhancing biodiversity

Read why forests could not exist without fungi, which lie at the base of the biodiversity webs that support much of life on Earth.

What is a fungarium?

The FFCL Fungarium has samples from all over the world and houses close to 2.000 species collected from Chile. It's a great treasure, find out why.

Chanterelles and Family Traditions

Discover how fungi are part of Lithuanians family traditions and cuisine.

The Earthly Journeys of María Sabina

Who was María Sabina and how did she change the history of ethnomycology?