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Fungi are considered to be in urgent need of conservation by the British Mycological Society on the grounds that it is a traditionally neglected taxon which has legal protection in few countries. Current threats to fungi include destruction of forests worldwide, fragmentation of habitat, changes in land use, pollution, anthropogenic climate change and over-exploitation of commercially attractive species.
The Species Survival Commission of the IUCN has five specialist groups dealing with the conservation of fungi:
Lack of knowledge is considered a major concern with a general paucity of comprehensive checklists, even for developed nations. In addition, the criteria for "red-listing" is not specifically designed for fungi and the kinds of data required, viz. population size, lifespan, spatial distribution and population dynamics are poorly known for most fungi. As a result in practice, indicator species are identified as target foci for the conservation of threatened fungi.