Wellington, Feb 22
Conservation ministers from opposite sides of the world will be at the launch in Wellington tomorrow of the foundation volume of a definitive series of books on New Zealand fungi.
New Zealand’s Conservation Minister Chris Carter will be accompanied by Ben Bradshaw, Britain’s Nature Conservation and Fisheries Minister.
They will officiate at the launch of The Fungi of New Zealand – Nga Harore o Aotearoa, a series of books that will give an overview of New Zealand fungi knowledge and guides to identifying them.
Volume One has the first checklist of names of every fungus, including lichens, recorded in New Zealand – about 7500 of them.
Dr Buchanan said New Zealand was possibly the first to produce a country-wide listing.
The book also collates traditional Maori knowledge of fungi and features a bibliography of all taxonomic literature on New Zealand fungi.
The 500-page Volume One has 14 contributing authors and is edited by Landcare Research mycologist Dr Eric McKenzie.
"This series will go on for decades," Dr Buchanan said. "We have an estimated 22,000 species of fungi in New Zealand so the series will outlast our lifetimes without doubt".
NZPAWGTjhkkmjdob 22/02/05 19-10NZ
