Fundación Sendero de Chile launches project “Ruta del fungus: immersion route and discovery of the funga in the San Cristóbal”

With the aim of promoting interest in the Fungi Kingdom, the Fundación Sendero de Chile is executing the “Ruta del Hongo” project, which is expressed in two modalities. The first consists of a museographic sample of the funga finds found during last autumn and winter, and later analyzed in the laboratory, by two scholars of this surprising world who traveled the Route daily.

The exhibition will be open free of charge to the public at Vivero Cumbre, located in Plaza México, a few steps from the minibus terminals and the cable car, on Saturdays and Sundays, for a total of three months. Under the modality of guided visits, it will have the presence of the researchers themselves, assuming a multimedia format.

On the other hand, a Guide for cell phones will be published for the interpretation of the route, which includes the story of three scholars: the two previous ones and a third, who is fond of history and geography. The Guide seeks to connect the hiker with entertaining stories of the transformation of the hill and its surroundings, as well as with the corners where the different forms of fungi and lichens that emerge around the path are manifested. It seeks to reveal surprising facts about this kingdom, significant messages and leave open questions to stimulate reflection.

This initiative has been developed within the framework of the Public Science Contest for Regional Public Spaces of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation and has the strategic association of the Fungi Foundation, the Mushroom Museum and the Bellavista orchard, an initiative promoted by the Neighborhood Association Mario Baeza, from Providencia.

“The projects associated with the Public Science Contests, of the Ministry of Science, are characterized by generating spaces and experiences in which an interaction between people and knowledge occurs. They promote horizontal interactions and encourage interdisciplinarity, including natural and exact sciences, social sciences and research in the arts and humanities, and that is what we like the most, because from their origin they have proposed spaces for dissemination and offer the possibility of inspiring, comparing or reinterpreting conclusions of other studies”, says Minister Silvia Díaz about the initiative.

The Fungus Route is a route through different pedestrian paths of the Metropolitan Park, which joins the entrances of Pedro de Valdivia Norte and Pío Nono, 5 km long. Avoid paved roads, combining garden, forest and scrub environments. It goes through the main attractions of the hill and stops at two remarkable viewpoints of Santiago and its mountain ranges. An ideal panorama for a half-day of hiking and contact with nature in the city.

Regarding this connection between human and environment, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Science, Carolina Gainza, adds: “Public Spaces projects seek to promote the development and implementation of places that allow dissemination and at the same time socialization of Science, Technology , Knowledge and Innovation (CTCI). These experiences must be linked to the territory through memorable experiences and that is the most important thing for this Ministry because it deals with local and own problems».

A new way of hiking

With this pioneering experience of its kind, it is intended to encourage a new type of hiking in Chile, which incorporates sighting and connection with fungi and lichens as an added value in the quality of the visitor experience. And by the way, a precedent is set to replicate this type of initiative in other trails in the country, with the San Cristóbal hill being the ideal starting point to project this possibility.

“What we seek is to understand the complexity and uniqueness of our ecosystem in the middle of the city; promote the responsible encounter between citizens and their habitat and ask ourselves: what treasures of nature are hidden and prevail in the midst of air pollution and noise in the city? It is also combining physical activity with the acquisition of knowledge and values, through a memorable experience such as the one we project with this design of the Ruta del Hongo, drawn up in a public space with high circulation, in continuous transformation and of such a unique nature. . Hopefully it will also serve as an input for the takeoff of outdoor environmental education, ecotourism and scientific tourism in San Cristóbal”, explains Sebastián Infante, director of the Foundation.