Fungi as an organism.
Exists predominantly as mycelium.
Mycelium is a web, underneath
the ground, of interlocking
threads called hyphae.
They’re thinner than
strands of human hair.
When conditions are ripe,
hyphae come together
and form the mushroom.
In recent years,
a lot of us are learning
more about what fungi can do
and who they are.
It’s amazing
the kinds of solutions
that they’re offering to us humans.
Oyster mushrooms are an incredible
edible mushroom
that can create low cost,
dignified housing,
food security, and agricultural jobs
all in one.
One of the examples is
project called Biohab,
based in Namibia.
It all starts
with the acacia melifera bush,
which you can see
here. It’s a very thick bush.
It’s actually choking wildlife refuge
and natural aquifers
throughout the country.
If we harvest this shrub,
it allows the native
grasslands to regrow
and these grasslands
feed cows and antelope.
The blackthorn is actually
a fantastic substrate
to grow mushrooms on.
The oyster mushrooms
also provide a source of income
and food for these farmers.
The waste that’s created
from the oyster
mushroom cultivation
process are pressed, and they’re baked.
The material that comes out of that
is similar to this here.
A very dense composite.
These blocks can be used
as building materials.
This is a humble example
of how one single mushroom
can be a huge inspiration
for the building industry at large,
as well
as for regenerative agriculture.
Artists’s conk
is another really powerful mushroom
being used
to look
at sustainable forms
of myco-materials
or materials made by using mycelium.
A company
that’s doing awesome things
with myco-materials is Ecovative.
They’ve been looking at
how can we make sustainable materials
that can replace plastics
or hazardous
materials in our environment?
Mycelium is grown
in very particular,
specific ways in labs to help create
new materials
that can be used for leather,
for packaging,
for sustainable building materials.
Myco-materials
are really
going to change
how industries can become sustainable
and have much less
toxic waste generation.
Another mushroom that has profound
ecological impacts
is the garden giant mushroom.
Studies have shown that
this fungus
has the ability to filter antibiotic
resistant bacteria,
that it
lives in waterways and wetlands.
It’s very important
to have clean and clear waterways,
or else the bacteria goes
into our water supply
and affects nature and people.
So porcini mushrooms
are another goddess
in the fungal kingdom.
The porcini is an example
of a mycorrhizal fungi,
myco meaning fungus, rhizome
meaning root,
because of its unseen ways
that the mycelium
are connecting to tree roots.
The mycorrhizal relationship
is a trade relationship
where the fungus gives the tree roots
nutrients
like phosphorus and nitrogen and water,
and the tree gets the fungus sugars
that it creates from photosynthesis.
This is a very
ancient and
ubiquitous relationship
around the planet,
and makes trees
and forests able to withstand
pathogens, bug infestations,
large fluctuations
in temperature, and climatic stressors.
Fungi are showing us new ways
to live in allyship with the planet.
These examples are all very different,
but they demonstrate one thing,
which is how fungi are so essential
for the resiliency of our planet.
There’s many different ways
to ally with fungi.
To create a more regenerative
and responsible
a more a more regenerative
and healthy planet.