Exploring fungi and mushrooms in Sikkim - our journey so far

Our journey into exploring and trying to understand the fungi and mushrooms in Sikkim has taken us to wonderful places. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences and learning about fungi has brought us closer to countless other forms of life. We have also cultivated a vast amount of respect for the amazing biodiversity that our home state of Sikkim is blessed with. So, today we want to talk about our journey into the mycoverse and the various challenges that we have faced during this process of discovery and amazement.

In our effort to understand and identify wild fungi and mushrooms of Sikkim, we ventured to some of the more remote places within the state. What we have learned is that the general populace knows hardly anything about this abundant kingdom of life. We have also found out that the knowledge about wild mushrooms is more prevalent among the farming and foraging communities in Sikkim as compared to the urban populace. However, since mushrooms are a trending topic on the internet, information about the benefits of fungi is more known to people in the urban space.

We have also learned that foraging is a risky business in some ways, as the bridge between local knowledge and scientific know-how seems to not be built for the most part. We have observed that local people and communities mostly rely on knowledge that is handed down in the family by the older generation, who seemed to know a lot more about fungi than they are often given credit for. For most part, we seem to mostly be catching up to what was already known by the generations that came before us. That being said, we are often faced with tragic news from the state about people getting poisoned after consuming poisonous mushrooms. There are records of entire families getting mushroom poisoning and the surprising thing is that it mostly happens in communities where people eat wild mushrooms. We hope that someday proper identification methods and guides will be used to prevent such tragic loss of life. Considering the fact that less than 2 percent of all known mushrooms are toxic, it is surprising to see so many deaths because of wild mushrooms throughout the country in fact. It simply points to a greater need to research and study wild fungi.

Fungi are such obscure little creatures that people have often overlooked them even when they regularly visit forests. Since Sikkim is blessed with plenty of forested areas, the incredible diversity of fungi found there is among the highest in India. That being said, the amount of research that's been done with regard to fungi in the state and the availability of that research to anyone willing to study them is nearly non-existent especially if they are independent, non-affiliated individuals like ourselves.

One of the toughest challenges we have faced to date is getting our hands on a complete list of documented fungi and mushrooms in Sikkim, which would really make our journey into the mycoverse a lot easier; however, even if such lists exist, we have not been able to find them. We would love to collaborate with communities and researchers alike to conserve and to further the knowledge and use of fungi and mushrooms in the state, but so far we have found connecting with like minded individuals a daunting task.

We as Mushrooms of Sikkim have also taken efforts on our own to introduce people to the world of fungi and mushrooms at every opportunity we get. We have taken adults and children into forests to share this wealth of knowledge, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences for us to be able to spread awareness about them. We will continue in this journey further and hope to connect with like-minded individuals and researchers in this field.

PS: We don't encourage anyone to consume any mushrooms without proper verification, we are learners ourselves and consider ourselves beginners when it comes to mushroom identification. Never ever eat a wild mushroom without experts verifying the identification of the mushroom. Edible mushrooms have lookalikes which can be deadly toxic if consumed. We don't forage to consume, just here to learn more about nature.

We are grateful to Sikkim Express for giving us this space to help spread the word of fungi in the state. If you want to join us, write to us at pramodhingmang@gmail.com or reach out to us via Instagram, we are called Mushrooms of Sikkim. We would love to collaborate and connect with people genuinely interested in knowing more about nature.

Mushrooms of Sikkim is a team of two people, Pramod Hingmang and Bharati Gurung from  Gangtok, Sikkim. We are simply nature enthusiasts and claim no expertise on the subject of mycology.

WARNING:  WE DON'T ENCOURAGE ANYONE TO CONSUME ANY MUSHROOMS WITHOUT PROPER VERIFICATION, WE ARE LEARNERS OURSELVES AND CONSIDER OURSELVES BEGINNERS WHEN IT COMES TO MUSHROOM IDENTIFICATION. NEVER EVER EAT A WILD MUSHROOM WITHOUT EXPERTS VERIFYING THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE MUSHROOM. EDIBLE MUSHROOMS HAVE LOOKALIKES WHICH CAN BE DEADLY TOXIC IF CONSUMED. 

WE DON'T FORAGE TO CONSUME, JUST HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT NATURE.