This effort aims to fill a significant gap in international conservation initiatives by recognizing and protecting traded endangered fungal species alongside animals and plants.
January 27, 2025
FFungi Staff
FFungi Volunteer
The Fungi Foundation together with John Scanlon AO, former Secretary-General of the CITES Secretariat, have released critical baseline information to advocate for the inclusion of fungi within the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) framework. This effort aims to fill a significant gap in international conservation initiatives by recognizing and protecting fungal species alongside fauna and flora.
“Despite their crucial roles in ecosystems and economic importance, fungi have been largely overlooked in conservation efforts. Better recognizing fungi under CITES will help fill this gap and support their conservation and sustainable use. We urge CITES Parties to take steps to strengthen the foundation for regulating international trade in fungi under the Convention, which will also serve to highlight their importance globally” said John Scanlon AO, Executive President of the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL)
Fungi were recognized as being covered by CITES in 2002. Although fungi were recognized by the Convention, no fungal species have ever been proposed for listing under CITES, let alone listed. This represents a significant gap in the protection of fungal species from overexploitation through international trade- and even if a species is to be proposed to be listed, there is currently no explicit criteria for assessing them under the Convention, and, if listed, they would be included as “plants”.
The document, titled “Baseline Information for Better Protection of Fungal Species Within CITES,” and available in English, French and Spanish, explains the current state of fungal conservation in regards to the Convention. It also highlights several ways for the Convention to better recognize internationally traded species of the fungi kingdom. For instance, a more complete Resolution on CITES and fungi could be submitted and adopted, or decisions could be adopted directing the CITES Plants Committee to assess the available science on the exploitation of fungi for international trade and the impact such trade has on the survival of the species. Both draft resolutions and decisions can be prepared and submitted by any Party or Parties to a CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP).
Another route could be to amend the Convention text to explicitly include funga alongside flora and fauna, which would offer the strongest legal foundations but is not favoured at this time.
“This is one step forward as part of our global campaign to explicitly include fungi in all conservation efforts and protect them under legal frameworks. We invite Parties to submit a draft resolution on CITES and a set of decisions directed to the Plants Committee at CITES CoP20 in 2025,” encourages Giuliana Furci, Executive Director of the Fungi Foundation.
At the recent UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP16, the governments of Chile and the United Kingdom (UK), together with the Fungi Foundation, launched the Fungal Conservation Pledge. This initiative calls on 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 to adopt concrete measures that allow for maintaining their benefits to ecosystems and people in the context of the triple environmental crisis’, and has already been signed by 13 countries.
In addition, Scanlon and Furci highlight the UK governments proposal to the CITES Standing Committee 78, which makes clear recommendations in this direction (SC78 Doc. 75).
Current scientific estimates indicate there are between 2.2 and 3.8 million species of fungi, a number potentially ten times greater than plant species. Despite their essential roles in nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, plant growth, soil health and food production, fungi have been largely neglected in conservation policies.
Only 781 fungal species have been assessed for conservation priority on the IUCN Red List, compared to 89,000 animal species and 66,000 plant species.
Fungi are also crucial for human sustenance, medicine, and industry, with a notable 15% annual growth in fungal trade over the past decade. Protecting fungi through international legal frameworks is essential for ecological and human well-being.
These measures will open avenues for increased research and a heightened focus on the importance of fungi to ecological health and prevent overexploitation that threatens the survival of fungi.
The Fungi Foundation, its special advisors and partners, can offer technical support, upon request, to any CITES Parties or Parties that wish to advance this matter.
The document “Baseline Information for Better Protection of Fungal Species Within CITES” can be consulted here in English, French and Spanish.
Supporting Documentation
