MARGAO: Disturbed by the fact that Goa has already lost 14 of its 30 wild mushroom species since 1986 due to overexploitation, the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) has issued an advisory to those plucking and consuming the mushrooms to exercise restraint.
It has also asked members of the public and local biodiversity management committees (BMCs) to help prevent the destruction of the termite mounds they grow on as it fears that overexploitation of these ecologically important fungi, considering the very young and immature stages sold in markets, may even destroy the natural quarantines of unknown zoonotic viruses and release new forest diseases. The GSBB has asked that at least fifty per cent young stages be left behind on termite mounds to mature, so that their diversity can be conserved.
Several varieties of wild mushrooms or ‘roen olmi’ such as khut or khutyali olmi, shali olmi, sonyali olmi, chonchyali olmi, shiti, and shitolo olmi, are consumed in Goa as a delicacy.
“If people keep on exploiting roen olmi, we will lose out on both the mushrooms as well as the complex biodegradation-based ecosystem provided by the termites that cultivate the enzyme-rich fungus,” the GSBB has said. “It is very necessary for the general public to be aware that like several crops and fruits that can be cultivated artificially, these species, which are dependent exclusively on their mentor termites, cannot be artificially cultivated and mass-produced. Such a task has been considered impossible by scientists. It is a universal convention that wild species which can’t be domesticated need to be left intact in their wild habitats for natural regeneration, because market forces overexploit and destroy these gene pools.”
Scientist Nandkumar Kamat has warned that the general public itself may be responsible for the next pandemic which could originate from the Western Ghats if the termitomyces mutualistic machinery that controls such viruses and other disease agents within the forest ecosystem are destroyed.
“In present times, consumers are craving for ethnic food and hence it’s a temptation to many to make windfall income without returning anything back to Nature. The whole world is now sensitive to anything that can’t be cultivated. Considered as sacred by our past traditions, the precious roen olmi of Goa need to be seen as blessings of Earth goddess Santeri who is worshipped in Goa, Konkan and the Western Ghats, and accordingly treated with respect,” the GSBB said.
“For thousands of years the ethical principles of forest dwellers had conserved these species as they never thought of marketing them. Local people living near forests and wildlife sanctuaries exploited small quantities and left lots of mushrooms on mounds to mature and spread spores. They even created legends - such as termite hills being the abodes of snakes - to other people from exploiting the mushrooms,” the GSBB added.