We've been working toward the conservation and inclusion of funga in the public sphere—politics, communities, schools, and language—since 2010. Here's a look at what working for fungi looks like.
It all started when mycologist Giuliana Furci, alongside environmental organizations, advocated for fungi to be included in Chilean Environmental Law.
In 2013, Chile became the first country in the world to include fungi in its environmental legislation. This huge step led to the possibility of assessing 22 fungal species through Chile's Species Assessment Process and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. According to the latest update, the conservation status of 138 native species has been evaluated, including fungi and lichens (2024).
In parallel, Giuliana Furci founded the Fungi Foundation, the first NGO dedicated solely to the fungal kingdom.
From then on, the Fungi Foundation has focused on advocating for fungi to be included in international environmental frameworks, while also educating about their existence and documenting the fungal diversity of wild places. We work at the intersection of science, conservation, and culture.
We currently run four programs: Conservation, Expeditions, Education, and Elders— each with unique national and international goals. Here's an overview of what we’ve achieved over the past years:
World First in Legislation: Led Chile to become the first country to include fungi in environmental law.
Established the Term “Funga”: Coined the term “funga” to be used alongside “fauna” and “flora,” broadening conservation frameworks to recognize the importance of considering fungi and influencing major organizations including National Geographic and the IUCN.
Fungarium Creation: Launched and maintain a collection of 2000+ fungal specimens, indexed by the New York Botanical Garden.
Published Research: Co-authored 30+ research papers on fungal conservation, sustainability, and descriptions of new species.
Global Expeditions: Conducted fieldwork in 20+ countries, training dozens of mycologists, discovering new species, and fostering global collaborations.
Endangered Fungal Species: Organized South America's first workshops to list vulnerable and endangered fungi, proposing 138 new species for IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) assessment.
Educational Curriculum: Created a fungi K-12 school curriculum with Fantastic Fungi, reaching 5100 enrollments in 81 countries and 3 languages.
Indigenous Fungal Relationships: Developed a map documenting Indigenous and ancient relationships with fungi, covering 48 countries and 98 human groups.
Artistic Collaborations: Partnered with 20+ artists and museums for fungal exhibitions.
We've also enabled public access to mycological knowledge through the publication of field guides, and most recently through the development of a scientific collection standard—so that people interested in fungi can properly collect their own specimens and data, and correctly voucher samples to later be included in a fungarium or used for research.
We have also collaborated with museums, universities, artists, scientists, and filmmakers to raise awareness about the importance of fungi for the health of our planet.
Giuliana Furci founds the Fungi Foundation.
Fungi are effectively included in Chilean environmental law (in the reform to the Law on General Bases of the Environment, No.19.300.
The Foundation’s collection of dehydrated fungi is indexed in the Index Herbariorum, coordinated by the New York Botanical Garden. The code FFCL is assigned to our collection which is the first exclusive collection of fungi in Chile.
Fundación Fungi, along with the National Museum of Natural History, create the exhibition “Fungi, A Kingdom to be Discovered”, which travels through Chilean cities. This is the first exhibition exclusively on Fungi in Chile’s history.
Fungi Foundation organizes the 1st Latin American Course of Mycology in Chile, helps fund the first Fungifest, Festival de Fungi, and launches campaings and exhibits in Chile and Brazil.
Field expedition in Parque Karukinka together with Red Fungi, to enhance biomaterials from fungi.
Giuliana Furci and Fungi Foundation participate in the 11th International Meeting of Mycology (IMC 2018) in Puerto Rico. Fungi Foundation, along with The Fungal Red List run the workshop: "Assessing The Global Conservation Status of Fungi".
Launch of the Book Guide of Field Guide of Chile Vol. II by Giuliana Furci and Fungi Foundation.
The Jane Goodall Institute recognizes Fungi Foundation as "The Best of 2018".
Fungi Foundation participates in conservation workshops in Panama, Chile, and Australia.
811 Public Schools of Chile receive Fungal Field Guide from Chile thanks to the Agreement with the Resource Center for Learning (CRA) of MINEDUC
Premiere of the Fantastic Fungi documentary that has the participation of Giuliana Furci.
Giuliana Furci is appointed Vice President of the Fungi Conservation Committee (FCC) of IUCN
A fundraiser and speaker event, presented by Bolt Threads, to speak about fungal topics ranging from conservation to indigenous preservation. Speakers included Paul Stamets, Merlin Sheldrake, and Inti Garcia Flores.
Directed by Mateo Barrenengoa in collaboration with our foundress Giuliana Furci, the short documentary presents the wonderful fungi queendom through a poetic perspective that reflects on the importance of allowing for natural cycles of degeneration to unfold.
