The legally protected fungi and lichens in the EU

Despite decades of recommendations from the scientific community, fungi have yet to be included in any international legal instruments that regulate wildlife species conservation in the European Union (EU), such as the Bern Convention. However, several EU member states include lists of protected non-lichenized and lichenized fungal species in their national legislation. Most of these legal documents are available only in local languages and are dispersed across national legal databases. To increase the visibility of fungi protected across the EU and facilitate comparisons of these regulations, the first consolidated list of 884 non-lichenized and 787 lichenized fungal taxa protected under the national laws of 18 EU member states is presented. The shortcomings of the current framework for protecting fungal species are highlighted, the distinction between non-binding Red Lists and legally binding species protection is clarified, and improvements to enhance the effectiveness of fungal conservation laws in the EU and beyond are proposed.