The fungi kingdom
Why fungi are important for all terrestrial life
It’s not just fauna and flora, there’s a third, much overlooked kingdom of life – fungi.
Fungi are essential for plant and soil health, and therefore our own survival.
It’s not just the mushrooms that we eat, in this programme we celebrate fungi in all its forms. Fungi already play important roles in our food production and medicine, scientists are now investigating fungi based solutions for environmental pollution and waste disposal.
We’re joined by biologist Merlin Sheldrake in the United Kingdom, author of ‘Entangled Life’, Giuliana Furci, mycologist and founder of the Fungi Foundation, the world’s first non-governmental organisation for the protection of fungi, based in Chile and Danielle Stevenson, a mycologist looking at soil toxicity in the United States.
(Picture: fungi growing on a log. Credit: 91Èȱ¬)
Presented by Ruth Alexander.
Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Thu 7 Jul 2022 03:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service except Australasia, East Asia & South Asia
- Thu 7 Jul 2022 04:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 7 Jul 2022 18:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Online & News Internet only
- Thu 7 Jul 2022 21:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa
- Thu 7 Jul 2022 22:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Europe and the Middle East
- Sun 10 Jul 2022 07:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service except Europe and the Middle East
Food Chain highlights
Tea, coffee, spices, chillies ... snack on a selection of programme highlights
Podcast
-
The Food Chain
Examining what it takes to put food on your plate