Happy International Mushroom Day
Unidentified mushroom in Assam, India
October 15 is International Mushroom Day and to celebrate Planet Fungi are taking you on a journey to northern Greece, where we meet a primary school teacher who transformed the world of Greek mycology.
We also celebrate world mushroom day with a local screening of Planet Fungi - north east India as a fundraiser for Brunswick Valley Landcare.
And we share some exciting news about the new edition of Merlin Sheldrake’s book Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds.
Watch on YouTube
Mother Mycelium - a new Planet Fungi video on YouTube
Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak found kindred spirits in George Konstantinidis and Despina Klisiari, George’s partner in life, love, fungi and music.
We were lucky enough to steal a day of their time to chat to George about his forays into the Kingdom of Fungi, the mushrooms of Greece, the best way to pick a boletus, his collection of 15,000 specimens and why he calls the body of fungus - mother mycelium.
The music you’ll hear in Mother Mycelium is courtesy of Manitarock - George and Despina's mushroom rock band. Manitarock means mushrooms plus rock. Most of its members are also part of the Greek Mushroom Society.
PLANET FUNGI - NORTHEAST INDIA screening
If you haven’t yet seen Planet Fungi - northeast India on the big screen, join us locally today at Brunswick Picture House, Brunswick Heads. Tickets on sale here.
Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak will be there to answer your questions and talk fungi adventures.
Do you recognise the image on the front of the brand new abridged and illustrated edition of Entangled Life - How Fungi Made Our Worlds by Merlin Sheldrake?
We are so thrilled to be among the contributors who have helped to layer Merlin’s thoughtful and inspiring text on fungi with imagery.
It is due for release on 2 November and you can pre-order a copy wherever you buy your books.
This is what Merlin has to say about this new edition …
“So much of fungal life takes place out of sight it can be hard to find a way into their worlds. To come closer to fungi we have to look at them, often using tools like microscopes that help make the invisible visible. The illustrated edition of Entangled Life is an invitation into some of these astonishing visual worlds. It's a beautiful book and I'm excited that it's ready, at last.
I've looked at these images again and again and they continue to surprise and amaze me. Some of them are the most remarkable images of fungi I have seen. All are the result of the vision and skill of a group of exceptional photographers and microscopists.”
Here are some of the photos Stephen contributed to the book.
Click here to watch one of our most exquisite time-lapses and listen to the music of the FOLLOW THE RAIN credit sequence. Can you spot your name?
Update on our new documentary - FOLLOW THE RAIN
We've almost done it. Thank you. Thank you.
With your generous support, we have raised the $33,000 to pay for the sound mix, colour grade, music and graphics.
Planet Fungi paid the additional $5,000 for the stock footage in addition to self-funding the filming and editing.
The music is composed and delivered.
The sound mix happened last week.
The colour grade starts tomorrow.
Completion is early November.
To celebrate I have clipped the credit sequence to give our supporters a little taste of the time-lapses and the music, and to acknowledge all who have contributed to making this project happen.
Stay tuned for notices of screenings.
This is what the scientists and some of our most trusted experts in the film industry are saying about FOLLOW THE RAIN.
“I am awestruck. It is SUCH a magnificent film. Catherine and Stephen have used all their passion and craft and wit and humanity to create something rich and moving. It is a wonderfully layered love story - an ode to fungi, to nature, to Stephen’s photography, to their own relationship.” Sonya Pemberton, Emmy Award Winning science filmmaker, Genepool Productions
"I was lucky to have a sneak preview of Stephen and Catherine’s new documentary, Follow the Rain. It was great to see the story of how new fungal species are discovered and named, threaded through with information on the vital roles of fungi in nature. As soon as I saw the time-lapse of the fungus growing up, shriveling back down again, tiny little insects taking a nibble, I was hooked. If you’re in the field you don’t notice that. It’s a completely new way of seeing fungi in nature.” Dr Tom May, Mycologist and Senior Botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.
“Every second is mesmerising. The time-lapse images are amazing”, Prof. Roger Shivas, mycologist and plant pathologist University of Southern Queensland.
In FOLLOW THE RAIN we take you behind the scenes as we time-lapse the very charismatic Mycena interrupta or Pixie’s Parasol.
Our fundraising efforts are now focused on the achieving the final $10,000 of our crowdfunding goal. This money is to assist in the call to action campaign of the documentary, so we can make as much impact with this documentary as we can.
We will work with fungi scientists, Government and NGOs, in Australia and internationally, to screen the documentary, and engage audiences in supporting fungi science initiatives, fungi conservation and participate in fungi citizen science.
1. Policy change – Follow the Rain will contribute to the work of the international 3Fs campaign – Fauna Flora and Funga. Fungi are recognized as critical to life on this planet, however they represent just 0.2 % of our global conservation priorities.
2. Raise awareness about the lack of funding for fungi science and the gaps that need to be filled.
3. Inspire individuals to participate in citizen science.
4. Inspire government and individuals to conserve and nurture habitat of fungi.
Can you help us raise the final $10,000?
Every bit helps - large or small.
Tax deductible donations for Australians are available
via the Documentary Australia website.
WHY WE ARE MAKING FOLLOW THE RAIN
Did you know humans are only just starting to understand how important fungi are to life on our planet and how critical they are in protecting us from the impacts of climate change? Now we realise that without fungi, the world as we know it would not exist - forests would not exist, and we would not exist. The push is on to document as many species as possible, as fast as possible, and then to understand what they do in the ecosystem.
Raising awareness about fungi is critical to achieving that goal. Your contribution will assist in achieving that mission.
This feature documentary will be the ultimate showcase for the beauty and science of fungi. Our passion for fungi has had the most extraordinary outcomes, from discovering new species, to immersing ourselves in fascinating fungi science, to creating exquisite time-lapses of fungi growing.
We are going to share our world of fungi with you in a way that has never been done before. We are pouring everything we have into this project – 10 years of passion and research. We know the story will be captivating, with fungi adventures in the Gondwana forests of the subtropics, the ancient grand forest of the Tarkine, the desert country of the Flinders Ranges and World Heritage forests of Lord Howe Island.
We will introduce our audience to passionate mycologists and fungi enthusiasts, and we even take you zombie fungus hunting. You will be investing in a project that is inspirational, showing how we can all make a difference to understand the planet we live on.
Our impact campaign aims to::
Create Policy change contributing to the work of the international 3Fs campaign - Fauna Flora and Funga. Fungi are recognized as critical to life on this planet, however they represent just 0.2 % of our global conservation priorities. In Australia biodiversity legislation still classifies fungi under plants and no fungi is listed as endangered due to inadequate research and funding. This project would be used as part of the lobby to change this so that conservation management strategies can be designed and actioned.
Raise awareness about the lack of funding for fungi science and the gaps that need to be filled.
Inspire individuals to participate in citizen science, giving them the tools and to document fungi and uploading their finds to iNaturalist and Atlas of Living Australia.
Educate and promote understanding of the critical role fungi plays on the planet and inspire government and individuals to conserve and nurture its habitat.
We know we can reach our goal. In fact, if everybody who receives this email gives just $25, $50, $100 or $200, we’d easily meet our target.
So we’re asking you to donate today.
Again a big thanks to all who have contributed so far and for those that have we would be grateful if you could spread the word far and wide via your networks to anyone else you think would be interested.
This mushroom is the reproductive body of one of potentially thousands of species of fungus in teh Australian sub-tropics that have not yet been identified.