Food Technology Department, Arid Lands Cultivation Research Institute (ALCRI),
City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTACity), Egypt.
Event Organizer
Dr. Soumya Ghosh
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences,
Free State University, Republic of South Africa.
Where plants produce and animals consume, fungi are the recyclers. Fungi are just as much threatened as animals and plants by climate change, habitat destruction, invasives, pollution, over-exploitation and even, in some cases, persecution.
Habitats important for threatened fungi may be different from habitats important for threatened animals and plants. Biodiversity can only be conserved if the well-being of fungi is given as much consideration as that of animals and plants: without fungi life on earth would be unsustainable. Fungi provide enormously important ecosystem services (e.g. soil fertility, mycorrhizas, crop protection, litter decomposition, checks and balances).
Egypt was one of the first countries in the world to have a national fungus day. Egypt is a pioneer country in recognizing that fungi are essential for sustainable life on that planet.
For the aforementioned information mycologists in Africa agreed to consider the 25th of May as the African Fungus Day as on 25 May, 1963, the first African organisation after independence, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed in Addis Ababa.
Arab Society for Fungal Conservation (Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, University of Suez Canal at Ismailia) under the auspices of the International Mycological Association (IMA), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Fungal Conservation Committee (FunCC), international Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Mohamed bin Zayed species conservation Fund (MBZ) announce the ist annual Africa Fungus Day (AFD). The celebration will take place online on the 25th of May 2022 from 10 am till 5 pm (Egypt local time) if Allah wills by Google meet platform. To join the meet please click on the button .
To Join the event please go the following link meet.google.com/icx-buye-rif
The celebration will include different well-known mycologists from Africa and their speeches will cover different topics such as:
1-Climate change and the emergence of fungal pathogens.
2-Terrestrial fungi and global climate change.
3- Fungal disease and climate change.
4- Climate change, fungal change.
5- Climate adaptation – indoor fungi and health.
6- How fungi can help solve the climate crisis?
7- Climate change and plant diseases caused by fungi.
8- Fungal diversity and climate change.
9- Example of fungal activity which reduces greenhouse gases.
10- Mycorrhizal fungi and climate change.
11- Agricultural crops, fungal diseases and climate change.
Our honorary speaker for 2022
Dr. Gregory M. Mueller
Chair, IUCN SSC Fungal Conservation Committee Chair,
IUCN SSC Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball Specialist Group
Chicago Botanic Garden, USA
Assessing the Conservation Status of African Fungi.
Dr. Héritier Milenge Kamalebo
Département de Biologie,
Institut Supérieur Pédagogique (ISP) de Bukavu,
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Host plants and edaphic factors influence the diversity and distribution of ectomycorrhizal fungal fruiting bodies within rainforests from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Food Technology Department, Arid Lands Cultivation Research Institute (ALCRI),
City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTACity), Egypt.
Fungi-Based Protiens: The future Towards Reduced Carbon Foodprint.