Species protection of fungi in the Polish law

Abstract

Fungi are part of the country’s natural heritage and just like other organisms need protection. Poland has introduced quite early legal regulations concerning the species protection of fungi. The list of species, contained in the successive regulations, underwent many modifications. Currently, the legislator decided to extend the protection to 322 species of macrofungi and lichen. Differentiated protection categories have been introduced, such as strict protection, partial, partial with the possibility of acquiring and zonal. They are characterized by a different directory of prohibitions and exemptions from them, which is the main tool to save endangered species.