The Australian Labor Party has become the first major Australian political party to explicitly recognise fungi alongside flora and fauna in its National Platform.

Adopted at Labor’s 50th National Conference in Adelaide, the updated environment platform commits Labor to conservation and restoration outcomes for Australia’s “flora, fauna, fungi, oceans and waterways”, and to championing the conservation of Australia’s “flora, fauna and fungi.”

It’s a small change in language, but potentially very important.

Fungi are not plants. They are their own kingdom of life, performing fundamental ecological roles – recycling nutrients, building soils, partnering with around 90 per cent of plants and helping make forests more resilient. Yet they have routinely fallen through the cracks of conservation policy simply because our traditional shorthand for nature has been “flora and fauna.”

The inclusion follows discussions between Senator the Hon Murray Watt, Fungimap – Australia’s leading citizen science and advocacy organisation for Funga, the Chief Botanist of South Australia, members of Australia’s mycological community and grassroots Labor members. It represents an important first step towards ensuring fungi are recognised wherever plants and animals are explicitly considered in environmental policy, biodiversity planning and conservation.

As Fungimap President Michael Priest puts it:

“Recognising fungi simply brings our language into line with ecological reality.”

And perhaps our bettong, busily spreading fungal spores through the forest, knew that all along.