Bhutan Report: 2026 Joint Expedition
What makes Bhutan so special, and why is it the place we chose for our joint 2026 expedition?
Bhutan is one of the only carbon-negative countries in the world, yet it is also among the most climate-vulnerable. Its protected forests, steep mountain landscapes, and rapidly warming high-elevation ecosystems make it a powerful place to study:
- How ecosystems are responding to climate stress
- Which fungi support life
- How the country's rich, deep culture of relationships between people and fungi evolves with these changes
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Bhutan is one of the only carbon-negative countries in the world, yet it is also among the most climate-vulnerable. Its protected forests, steep mountain landscapes, and rapidly warming high-elevation ecosystems make it a powerful place to study:
- How ecosystems are responding to climate stress
- Which fungi support life
- How the country's rich, deep culture of relationships between people and fungi evolves with these changes
Across a range of sites shaped by altitude, climate, and land use, Merlin Sheldrake and SPUN | Society for the Protection of Underground Networks's Toby Kiers sampled soils to study the hidden infrastructure belowground; Cosmo Sheldrake recorded soundscapes and again joined Giuliana Furci from Fungi Foundation in conducting ethnomycological interviews to document and preserve traditional relationships with fungi under sovereignty agreements; and Tomás Munita documented the expedition throughout.
A recent BBC Travel piece describes Bhutan as one of the world's most remote nations beginning to open up. What makes this expedition especially timely? (1) As access expands, so does the need to better understand the underground ecosystems that help sustain Bhutan's forests and climate resilience, and (2) having received such limited foreign influence makes the fungal relationships with people quite pristine.
Special thanks to Climate Breakthrough for their support. Stay tuned to learn more and see more of Tomás Munita's incredible expedition photos.
