The Impel Project Jonef for the Monitoring of Macrofungi in Europe (ID 771)

Abstract

Background and aims Currently, fungi are not or barely included in European environmental legislation and policies. In 2023, the European Network IMPEL approved a new project, Joint Networks for wild Fungi (JoNeF). JoNeF is focused on sharing guidelines for monitoring macrofungi in European habitats. The goal is to encourage the European Commission to consider fungi in environmental legislation and policies, based on the requests made by the scientific community over the years and considering the recent knowledge gained on them. Methods The JoNeF team conducted a survey based on a questionnaire that was distributed to experts and institutions interested in fungal conservation and data collection between October to December 2023. Thirty-two European respondents filled out the questionnaire, indicating a strong interest in the subject. Results This survey aimed to provide a current perspective on the state of fungal conservation in Europe. The results showed that almost half of the European countries have developed laws, policies, and plans for the study and protection of fungal diversity, whereas the remaining countries do not yet have specific laws on fungal conservation. Conclusions This inconsistency was caused by the lack of a common European operational framework. Common strategies employing modern approaches to unite the knowledge about fungal diversity can form the basis of a mushroom protection strategy within the framework of conservation in the living world. Requesting a joint directive from the European Commission to establish a conservation strategy that includes fungi and their habitats is crucial for the scientific community and environmental organizations.