‘‘Our Common Future.’’ This organization defined sustainable development as ‘‘…
the development that meets the need of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs …’’ (WCED 1987). Although
valuable as a policy statement, this definition has proved to be too abstract for
governments, businesses, and civil societies trying to design new production
systems or applied new social and environmental practices. Only by the middle of
the 1990s there were more than 70 definitions of sustainable development, each
emphasizing different values, priorities, and goals (Pretty 1995). What is clear is
that a single definition is impossible and sustainability must, therefore, be
understood and applied in a wide sense (Pérez-Moreno and Ferrera-Cerrato 1996a,
b). Currently, it has been generally accepted that sustainable development needs a
convergence between economic development, social equity, and environmental
protection (Drexhage and Murphy 2010).
In this context, it is important to analyze that an adequate use and management
of EEMs can contribute to the sustainable forest development. The forests influence different environmental processes of paramount importance in the maintenance of natural systems on earth. For example, they have a conspicuous influence
on hydrologic cycles, in the reduction of soil erosion, and in the conservation of
enormous animal plant and microbial biodiversity. In this way, forests also provide
a wide range of economic, social, and cultural benefits and services to humankind
(GFR 2010). Additionally, forests play an important role in carbon storage and
reduction of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (Read et al. 2009). According to
FAO (2006), the global store of carbon in forests is around 638 Gt, in ecosystems,
compared with 750 Gt of carbon stored in the atmosphere. Thus a key factor to
control or reduce climate change is the maintenance of forests. Unfortunately,
deforestation incorporates about 5.9 Gt of CO 2 annually, something like 60 % of
the carbon that is absorbed by all the world’s forests (Myers-Madeira 2008).
Maintaining forests is a complex paradox which faces social, economic, and
environmental challenges. Currently, one of the most important international
trends to maintain forests masses is to improve the sustainable forest management
of non-timber forest products, including among them the wild edible fungi. Edible
ectomycorrhizal fungi can contribute to sustainable forest management, and
therefore to sustainable development, because of: (i) their demonstrated paramount
ecological importance in the structure, function, and maintenance of forests (Read
and Perez-Moreno 2003); (ii) the high commercial value of some species whose
international market is valued in billions of dollars annually (Yun and Hall 2004;
Hall et al. 2003); (iii) the enormous social and cultural significance of hundreds of
species of EEMs in developing and developed countries, where the harvest of wild
EEMs is highly valued by local populations economically, culturally, and socially
as food or by their medicinal or nutraceutical properties (Pérez-Moreno et al. 2010;
Pérez-Moreno et al. 1993); (iv) the potential for cultivation of some species,
especially the successful commercial establishment of truffle plantations (Hall
et al. 2007; Olivier et al. 2012), and (v) the enormous genetic potential represented
198
J. Pérez-Moreno and M. Martínez-Reyes
the development that meets the need of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs …’’ (WCED 1987). Although
valuable as a policy statement, this definition has proved to be too abstract for
governments, businesses, and civil societies trying to design new production
systems or applied new social and environmental practices. Only by the middle of
the 1990s there were more than 70 definitions of sustainable development, each
emphasizing different values, priorities, and goals (Pretty 1995). What is clear is
that a single definition is impossible and sustainability must, therefore, be
understood and applied in a wide sense (Pérez-Moreno and Ferrera-Cerrato 1996a,
b). Currently, it has been generally accepted that sustainable development needs a
convergence between economic development, social equity, and environmental
protection (Drexhage and Murphy 2010).
In this context, it is important to analyze that an adequate use and management
of EEMs can contribute to the sustainable forest development. The forests influence different environmental processes of paramount importance in the maintenance of natural systems on earth. For example, they have a conspicuous influence
on hydrologic cycles, in the reduction of soil erosion, and in the conservation of
enormous animal plant and microbial biodiversity. In this way, forests also provide
a wide range of economic, social, and cultural benefits and services to humankind
(GFR 2010). Additionally, forests play an important role in carbon storage and
reduction of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (Read et al. 2009). According to
FAO (2006), the global store of carbon in forests is around 638 Gt, in ecosystems,
compared with 750 Gt of carbon stored in the atmosphere. Thus a key factor to
control or reduce climate change is the maintenance of forests. Unfortunately,
deforestation incorporates about 5.9 Gt of CO 2 annually, something like 60 % of
the carbon that is absorbed by all the world’s forests (Myers-Madeira 2008).
Maintaining forests is a complex paradox which faces social, economic, and
environmental challenges. Currently, one of the most important international
trends to maintain forests masses is to improve the sustainable forest management
of non-timber forest products, including among them the wild edible fungi. Edible
ectomycorrhizal fungi can contribute to sustainable forest management, and
therefore to sustainable development, because of: (i) their demonstrated paramount
ecological importance in the structure, function, and maintenance of forests (Read
and Perez-Moreno 2003); (ii) the high commercial value of some species whose
international market is valued in billions of dollars annually (Yun and Hall 2004;
Hall et al. 2003); (iii) the enormous social and cultural significance of hundreds of
species of EEMs in developing and developed countries, where the harvest of wild
EEMs is highly valued by local populations economically, culturally, and socially
as food or by their medicinal or nutraceutical properties (Pérez-Moreno et al. 2010;
Pérez-Moreno et al. 1993); (iv) the potential for cultivation of some species,
especially the successful commercial establishment of truffle plantations (Hall
et al. 2007; Olivier et al. 2012), and (v) the enormous genetic potential represented
198
J. Pérez-Moreno and M. Martínez-Reyes