The Fungi Foundation’s Ethnomycology Ethical Guidelines provide a framework for decision-making and conduct for the ethnomycological research within our work.
Across the world, vast ecosystems are being destroyed or threatened, erasing not only habitats and species, but also the ancestral knowledge of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant communities, traditional societies, and local communities.
We are committed to the preservation and revitalization of ancestral wisdom, and to working in genuine collaboration with the communities. We recognize past harms caused by research conducted without consent and are dedicated to building ethical, respectful, and beneficial collaborations.
In the new version of our guidelines (2025), we include more Latin American voices and emphasize that scientists must be at the service of communities. It is the communities themselves who should guide how we approach this work, and who decide what can or cannot be published.
Click here to read the new version of the document (2025)
In this edition, we also highlight cross-sector collaboration between academia, civil society, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities.
This is a living document, constantly evolving, nourished by experience, literature, dialogue, and its application in work with Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, as was the case last year with the Sarayaku Nation in Ecuador.
If you decide to implement these Ethical Guidelines in your work, please let us know. We want to highlight any efforts in following these principles and encourage others to adopt them as well.
Special thanks to the authors, as well as to our board members, advisors and everyone that has helped to create this document.
Click here to read the first version of the document (2023)
