ABSTRACT
Commercial trade in fungi harvested from wild, wild-simulated or cultivated populations in forests is a significant source of income for diverse people worldwide. Hundreds of species are harvested and sold for food, medicine and other purposes. For example, Jones and Lynch (2007) list 35 species of mushrooms and truffles commercially harvested in the Pacific Northwest region of the US; Pérez-Moreno et al (2008) recorded 90 species of wild edible mushrooms in 12 markets in central Mexico; and Guissou et al (2008) identified 88 species of wild mushrooms being sold in markets and at roadside stands in central and western Burkina Faso. Italy’s Ministry of Health regulations include 60 mushroom species on its list of species that are traded nationally, with an additional 90 species that are traded regionally (Sitta and Floriani, 2008). Sales of Cordyceps sinensis, a medicinal fungus, accounted for 40 per cent of rural cash income in the Tibet Autonomous Region in 2004 (Winkler, 2008).
