What ever interests you about fungi, at some point you will probably ask yourself whether our current abundance and diversity of species is in a healthy state or in decline. With over 12,000 species of fungus described in the UK, and many more to be discovered, answering this question, and responding to the answer will always be a difficult task. Conservation of fungi is further complicated by the cryptic 'hidden' nature of most species for most of the time, hidden below the soils surface or within other varied substrates. Because of this, it in difficult, and usually impossible to gain an accurate measure of a species true abundance and distribution.

Despite these immediate difficulties, conservation of fungi is by no means impossible. For many species we can infer distribution from their 'fruit bodies', whilst the distribution of hidden parts of fungi can now be revealed by molecular probes that identify the DNA of particular species or groups of species. We also have a good understanding of the habitat needs for many species, so can make good guesses about which species are threatened through our knowledge of the condition and extent of these habitats. For example, we can expect species that occur in a wide range of habitats, to be less threatened than species that only occur in rare habitats, such as the heartwood of ancient oak trees. A pragmatic and adaptive approach enables us to provide a wealth of habitat management advice based on our current knowledge that can be refined as new research and land management experence becomes available. It is important to remember that there are many activities that we can do, as groups or individuals, to help improve the conservation status of fungi in Scotland.