ABSTRACT
As a social scientist, I have spent the last 10 years working with mycologists who strongly believe in the need for fungal conservation. In that time, I have learned the answers to two simple questions: Does the fungal world need humans to thrive? Simply stated: no, fungi by and large do not need humans. Does the human world need fungi to survive? Simply stated: yes, humans depend on fungi: to maintain the environments we inhabit, provide us with food and other resources directly and indirectly, and for medicinal and cultural applications. Readers of this volume will undoubtedly know the answers to these questions are much more complex; regardless, the salient point is this: if humans need fungi, why are not more people more knowledgeable about them? Why are not people, by and large, concerned about their conservation? At their core, these are questions about people, not about fungi.
