Fungi in Australian Environmental Law

Abstract

This thesis assesses critically and comprehensively, for the first time in legal scholarship, the extent to which fungi are effectively included in Australian environmental law, and finds fungi generally neglected. While most environmental laws include fungi at least impliedly, misdescription and nondescription are universal features. Few fungi are listed for protection; they have never been the subject of environmental litigation; and they are virtually absent from protected area management planning. This neglect is despite fungi warranting specific attention because of their diverse values and unique conservation and restoration requirements. Reforms are required if there is to be any reasonable confidence in environmental law protecting Australia’s fungal diversity.

The thesis explains why fungi warrant specific attention by describing what fungi are, the state of and threats to the Australian funga, and the instrumental, intrinsic, and relational values of fungi. It then carries out a doctrinal analysis of the environmental laws of the Commonwealth, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria to ascertain whether fungi are included or excluded in those jurisdictions and the legal consequences of those inclusions and exclusions. The thesis then turns to environmental litigation and conservation practice to consider whether the inclusion of fungi under law has had any significant consequences for their conservation or restoration from a practical perspective. Finally, the thesis offers a reform agenda to include fungi more effectively by recognising and integrating them into existing laws and creating new laws for the benefit of biodiversity generally and fungi in particular. The thesis concludes by setting out directions for future research, illustrating how fungi could open a new, rich field of inquiry for scholars of environmental law.