Mycelial Methods for Action: Applying Knowledge of Fungi to Confront Ecological Emergencies

Fungi, which comprise their own kingdom of life, are ecosystem engineers that play fundamental roles in Earth’s life systems, including the climate system. Most live as branching, fusing networks of tubular cells known as mycelium. These symbiotic networks comprise an ancient life-support system that easily qualifies as one of the wonders of the living world.
Yet environmental and climate policy, law, and litigation rarely consider fungi nor the diverse underground ecosystems in which they often live, along with 25% of the planet’s species. As we confront the prospect of ecological collapse, there is a growing opportunity for legal practitioners to deepen their understanding of fungi of ways to protect the underground ecosystems that support much of life on Earth.
The NYU Climate Law Accelerator (CLX) and the NYU More Than Human Rights (MOTH) Project ran this first-ever webinar with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN). In this webinar, an interdisciplinary group of researchers discussed: i) the climate and ecological roles played by fungi and their vital roles within the living world; ii) ways that protecting fungi and underground ecosystems can help address the coupled climate and biodiversity crises; and iii) ways that fungal datasets could be deployed within environmental litigation and policy frameworks to leverage systemic change.
For more information on the work of SPUN, please visit www.spun.earth.