Italy Joins the Fungal Conservation Pledge: A Step Forward for Fungal Conservation
On 27 October 2026, during the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Yerevan, Armenia, Italy announced its endorsement of the Fungal Conservation Pledge, an international initiative aimed at promoting the recognition and integration of fungal diversity into biodiversity conservation policies.
The announcement was made by Claudio Barbaro, Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, during an event dedicated to the initiative.
Italy’s endorsement represents an important sign of recognition of fungi, which play essential roles in ecosystem functioning but remain insufficiently considered in biodiversity conservation strategies.
The Fungal Conservation Pledge promotes greater attention to fungal diversity within international biodiversity commitments, contributing to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
For the Italian mycological community, this recognition highlights the importance of strengthening scientific knowledge of the distribution, conservation status and ecological roles of fungal species, while supporting research, monitoring and data-sharing activities.
In this context, the activities of ISPRA’s Network for the study of Mycological Diversity (NMD) and the Fungi Information System (SIF) contribute to building a national knowledge base on fungal diversity, which can also support future conservation initiatives.
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