Including Brazilian Funga in Environmental Impact Assessments: a regulatory failure with ecological and social costsEnvironmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are intended to anticipate and mitigate biodiversity loss associated with development projects. In Brazil, however, EIAs continue to operate under a restricted biological framework focused almost exclusively on fauna and flora, while systematically neglecting funga. Analyses of Environmental Impact Studies and Environmental Impact Reports prepared for major infrastructure projects indicate that fungal diversity is rarely considered during biodiversity assessments (Amaral-Silva et al. 2025, Drechsler-Santos et al. 2025). This omission persists despite extensive evidence showing that fungi regulate nutrient cycling, soil structure, plant establishment and carbon dynamics, while also supporting a global economy estimated at US$54.57 trillion (Niego et al. 2023, van der Heijden et al. 2015, Bahram & Netherway 2022). Their exclusion therefore reflects a regulatory and institutional blind spot rather than ecological irrelevance.
Recent advances in fungal conservation highlight this gap. Although fungi were formally recognized within Brazilian biodiversity policy through Decree No. 12.137/2024, environmental licensing procedures still lack mandatory guidelines for fungal assessment (Drechsler-Santos et al. 2025). Consequently, fungal surveys and risk assessments remain largely absent from EIAs.
Several obstacles contribute to this situation, including the lack of standardized sampling protocols, limited incorporation of environmental DNA (eDNA) approaches, insufficient distributional data and the shortage of fungal specialists involved in environmental consulting (Thomsen & Willerslev 2015, Taberlet et al. 2018). Nevertheless, these limitations are primarily operational and should not justify the continued exclusion of fungi from environmental decision-making.
The ecological and social consequences are significant. Restoration programs that ignore mycorrhizal and decomposer communities frequently show reduced ecosystem functioning and resilience (Brundrett & Tedersoo 2018). Fungi also influence food security, water regulation and public health, including the emergence of fungal pathogens associated with environmental disturbance (Fisher et al. 2012). As a result, EIAs that exclude fungal data may underestimate ecological vulnerability and overestimate ecosystem resilience.
Brazil now possesses the scientific basis necessary to address this problem. Recent conservation initiatives have led to the inclusion of dozens of endemic Brazilian fungal species in extinction-risk assessments, demonstrating that fungal conservation can be effectively incorporated into public policy (Drechsler-Santos et al. 2025). Internationally, fungi are increasingly used in biodiversity monitoring and conservation planning, including as bioindicators in forest ecosystems (Runnel et al. 2021).
The mandatory inclusion of funga in Brazilian EIAs is therefore both scientifically justified and institutionally urgent. Minimum requirements such as fungal surveys, consultation of fungaria and consideration of threatened species would substantially improve environmental diagnostics. Without integrating fungi into environmental licensing, Brazil risks conserving ecosystems in appearance while overlooking the biological processes that sustain biodiversity and human well-being.
References
- AMARAL-SILVA I, BARCELOS GP, GANIKO-DUTRA M & DE LARA WEISER V. 2025. Including Funga in Brazilian environmental impact reports. Biol Conserv 305: 111095.
- BAHRAM M & NETHERWAY T. 2022. Fungi as mediators linking organisms and ecosystems. FEMS Microbiol Rev 46: fuab058.
- BRUNDRETT MC & TEDERSOO L. 2018. Evolutionary history of mycorrhizal symbioses and global host plant diversity. New Phytol 220: 1108-1115.
- DRECHSLER-SANTOS ER, GIBERTONI TB, MAIA LC ET AL. 2025. Brazil as a global player in fungal conservation: A rapid shift from neglect to action. Perspect Ecol Conserv 23: 246-254.
- FISHER MC, HENK DA, BRIGGS CJ, BROWNSTEIN JS, MADOFF LC, MCCRAW SL & GURR SJ. 2012. Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health. Nature 484: 186-194.
- NIEGO AGT ET AL. 2023. The contribution of fungi to the global economy. Fungal Divers 121: 95-137.
- RUNNEL K, MIETTINEN O & LÕHMUS A. 2021. Polypore fungi as a flagship group to indicate changes in biodiversity: a test case from Estonia. IMA Fungus 12: 2.
- TABERLET P, BONIN A, ZINGER L & COISSAC E. 2018. Environmental DNA: for biodiversity research and monitoring. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- THOMSEN PF & WILLERSLEV E. 2015. Environmental DNA: an emerging tool in conservation for monitoring past and present biodiversity. Biol Conserv 183: 4-18.
- VAN DER HEIJDEN MG, MARTIN FM, SELOSSE MA & SANDERS IR. 2015. Mycorrhizal ecology and evolution: the past, the present, and the future. New Phytol 205: 1406-1423.
Edited by
-
Handling editor
Patrik Viana
No new datasets were generated or analyzed during this study. All information supporting the arguments presented in this manuscript is available in the published literature cited in the reference list.
