The Role of the Fungus Conservation Forum

The FCF was founded in 1999 to form an effective management for the conservation of fungi in the British Isles, to make policy that could be put into practice in the field and to negotiate funds that could be used for mycological conservation projects. The intention was to bring together all the interested national organisations that would sit as a non-political forum.

Who Makes up the Fungus Conservation Forum?

Association of British Fungus Groups

British Mycological Society

Countryside Council for Wales

Natural England

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Plantlife International (Hosts)

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Scottish Natural Heritage

How Does the FCF Operate?

The Forum sits on a minimum of two occasions a year, generally in the Spring and late Autumn, at Kew in London. It is chaired by Plantlife International, the organisation that assembled the forum members at launch in 1999.

In past years the FCF has been responsible for the establishment and funding of several essential conservation projects including the Important Fungus Areas, the expansion of the Biodiversity Action Plan species list, the Pink Waxcap Survey and others. It has also funded the publication of a series of leaflets designed to bring mycological conservation needs before landowners and other sections of the general public.