Protect the underground
Society for the protection
OUR MISSION
Map the fungal networks of planet earth
Advocate for the protection of underground ecosystems
Drive innovation in underground climate science
Underground climate movement
Fungal networks support much of life on earth. SPUN is a science-based initiative founded to map fungal networks and advocate for their protection.
In collaboration with researchers and local communities, we aim to accelerate efforts to protect underground ecosystems largely absent from conservation and climate agendas.
S. Spačal
Underground networks
Over their 475 million year evolution, mycorrhizal networks have evolved abilities that have shaped the living world. Underground ecosystems are astonishingly diverse and remain largely unexplored.
L. Oyarte Galvez, AMOLF
Climate action
Fungal networks are one of the biggest untapped levers in climate science. Billions of tons of carbon dioxide flow annually from plants to fungal networks. This carbon flow helps make soils the second largest global carbon sink, after oceans.
Threats
Fungal networks underpin life on Earth. As networks disappear at an alarming rate, we destabilize ecosystems and lose the opportunity to partner with fungi to revolutionize agriculture, forestry, and carbon capture.
Underground Explorers
Our underground explorer program will work with local teams of underground explorers, or ‘myconauts’, to map the fungal networks of planet Earth. Together with the Crowther Lab at ETH, Zurich, we are mapping the biodiversity hotspots of network-forming fungi.
SPUN Team
SPUN is a non-profit science initiative founded to map fungal networks, advocate for their protection and accelerate the underground climate movement. We are an international network of scientists, activists and local communities dedicated to protecting the underground ecosystems that sustain all life on Earth.
Take action
Help protect and restore the fungal networks that regulate the Earth’s climate and ecosystems.