preprints.org > biology and life sciences > forestry > doi: 10.20944/preprints201704.0140.v1

Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 20 April 2017 / Approved: 21 April 2017 / Online: 21 April 2017 (12:18:11 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 24 May 2017 / Approved: 24 May 2017 / Online: 24 May 2017 (17:01:57 CEST)

Forest community connections are crucial to ensure forest stewardship and sustainability. We set to explore the potential of mushrooming to enable such connections in contexts were these were historically broken, alienating local people from forests. Taking the case of the recent devolution of a community forest in central Portugal (baldios) to the local population, the authors present a five-year pilot project to rework mycology from a mushroom-centered approach to a mushroom-in-baldios approach. Mushrooms were used as an entry-point to connect the forest ecology with the challenges of governance and community building. The devised activities provided an opportunity for people inside and outside the local community to adventure into the woods, find about their socio-ecological history, develop communal and convivial relationships and engage in the responsible gathering of wild mushrooms. However, the hosting of mushroomers to know, value and engage with the community forest recovery is constantly worked against the enclosure of mushrooms to provide marketable forms of leisure. The outcome will depend on the relationships established between mushrooms, mycologists, local administrators, commoners and poachers, operating within a framework that favors the eradication of resources instead of the long-term relationships that sustain places.

common lands; baldios; wild mushrooms; non-timber forest products; Portugal; multifunctional forestry; community; community forestry; local values; forest governance

Biology and Life Sciences, Forestry

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