Zombies, Magicians, Climate Saviours? Inside Colombia’s Fungi

🎙️ An hour with two of the country's leading scientists on fungi - on why they deserve our attention as well as our respect...

This week, I am exploring Colombia’s underground and invisible networks – as well as some of its strangest and least-understood living creatures.

With two of Colombia’s leading scientists in the field, I am going to be talking about zombie fungi, shamanic fungi and magic mushrooms, the Wood Wide Web, sunscreen spores, makeup fungi, eco-warrior fungi and more! Plus why this fascinating mega-science has been so neglected, and why it’s more urgent than ever that mycology gets the awareness, resources, and respect that it deserves.

+ available on Apple and wherever else you get your podcasts!

There are an estimated 300,000 species of fungi in Colombia, the huge majority of which have never been studied by science. In fact, fungi in general remain one of the greater mysteries of nature: their study is often considered a ‘neglected mega-science’. Many fungi are too small to see with the naked eye, and until only recently they were considered to be a part of the plant kingdom – though it is now considered they’re actually much closer to animals than they are to plants.

But they’re key to the past, present, and future of the entire planet. Fungi have played a vital role in shaping the Earth’s biosphere, and have directly impacted human society and its cultural evolution for the past 300,000 years - as food, for ritualistic purposes, or as medicinal products. They change animal behaviour, connect the forests, feed humans and animals, and may even be a key weapon in the fight against climate change. 

Battling the still-vast gap in knowledge is the Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project - an initiative led by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in collaboration with the Humboldt Institute. The project aims to increase, consolidate, and make accessible the knowledge of the country’s useful plants and fungi for the benefit of local communities.

Today, I am chatting to two of Colombia’s top scientists and leaders in this field: mycologist Aida Vasco is Assistant professor at the School of Microbiology at the University of Antioquia and Co-Chair of the Colombian Association of Mycology; botanist Mauricio Diazgranados is Chief Science Officer and Dean of the International Plant Science Center at the New York Botanical Garden. Mauricio led the Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project, including the development of the Colfungi portal and the Catalogue of Fungi of Colombia, on which Aida also worked.

In Colombia, fungi are primarily used as nutrition in the form of wild edible mushrooms and have long played a role in the food security of indigenous people and rural communities. Representations of mushrooms are also found in the iconography of several pre-Hispanic cultures throughout the country, showing knowledge and a close cultural relationship with fungi. Shamanic and spiritual uses are also common in the country.

Habitat loss and fragmentation, overuse of pesticides and fungicides, and of course climate change affect fungi as well as fauna and flora, but fungi are too-often neglected when it comes to biodiversity legislation and conservation policies in Colombia and further afield. The Colombian government only recognises three components of biological diversity: fauna, flora, and microorganisms

But there is cause for hope – we are only just starting to understand fungi but the field is gaining momentum, and experiments show their potential is even grander than we have imagined – they are not only a sustainable food source to fight hunger and the industrial food which accelerates climate change: mushrooms can also decompose waste – including nappies and cigarette butts, and can be used in ‘myco-fabrication’ even including architecture manufacture of furniture. They are incredibly adaptive, and provide ways for plants and animals to survive even in extreme and degraded environments.

Check out Mauricio and Aida’s projects here:

The Colfungi Portal | Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia | Catalogue of Fungi in Colombia

And check out my book and TV recommendations:

Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake | Underland, Robert Macfarlane | Fantastic Fungi (Netflix) | The Last of Us (HBO)

And if you like my podcast work, make sure to save this playlist on Spotify and never miss an interview!