Goa Biodiversity Board warns against unrestricted harvesting of wild mushrooms

Hindustan Times

12-07-2025

PANAJI: The Goa State Biodiversity Board has issued an advisory warning against unrestricted harvesting of seasonal wild mushrooms saying that it was a major risk to the state's biodiversity and such action could invite legal action against the harvesters. Ten-Twelve mushroom buds weighing around 200 grams are sold at around
₹ 500.
The Board urged traditional harvesters to 'leave behind at least fifty percent young stages on the termite mounds for conservation of their biodiversity' in order to ensure that the survival of vulnerable species are not threatened by overharvesting.
'The Wildlife Protection Act 1972 has ensured protection of natural species of wild mushrooms in wildlife sanctuaries but still people enter secretly in the forest and pluck mushrooms,' the advisory said cautioning that 'people ignorant of the different species of wild mushrooms need to be careful not to plunder rare smaller species found outside forest areas.'
According to Pradip Sarmokadam, the member secretary of the Board, Goa is host to several species of Termitomyces, a genus of mushrooms that gets its name from the fact that they are frequently found growing on and around termite mounds, including possibly rare and threatened species, whose potential use in medicine and for the extraction of rare compounds is yet to be explored.
'Scientists are researching mushroom species for new drugs/ pharmaceuticals but, if wild species are destroyed in Goa then nothing will be left for scientific research,' Sarmokadam added.
These include varieties known locally as khut or Khutyaliolami, Toshaliolami, Sonyaliolami and Chonchyaliolami or even smaller varieties like Shitololami.
Ten-Twelve mushroom buds weighing around 200 grams are sold at around ₹500.
The GSBB fears that 'rampant consumption and over exploitation' has spurred traditional pluckers to indulge in unethical practices, degrading sensitive wild habitat, thus causing erosion of biodiversity.
According to a 2004 study, Goa has 28 species of Termitomyces mushrooms.
However, experts believe that claims that the mushrooms are threatened are exaggerated.
'Mushrooms as a species grow out of the wood that the termites carry back to their nest. It is a symbiotic relationship between the termites and the mushroom with the mushrooms helping break down the lignin in the wood,' said horticulturist Miguel Braganza.
'Harvesting mushrooms has little to no effect on the spread of the mushroom as the main fungi organism lives below the surface. The real threat to the mushrooms is the use of fungicides and other chemicals, which the GSBB is silent about, and it is instead targeting the harvester, who often hails from poor communities,' he added.
'There is no threat to the species from harvesting, instead entire hills are being lost to mining and real estate, which the government is doing very little about,' Braganza said.
Studies have recorded that all Termitomyces species are edible and have unique food value attributed to their texture, flavour, nutrient content, and beneficial mediational properties.
The genus has been recognized for its ethno-medicinal importance in various indigenous communities throughout Asia and Africa. Recent studies on Termitomyces have indicated that their bioactive compounds have the potential to fight against certain human diseases such as cancer, hyperlipidaemia, gastroduodenal diseases, and Alzheimer's. Furthermore, they possess various beneficial antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Moreover, different enzymes produced from Termitomyces have the potential to be used in a range of industrial applications.