In the miombo woodlands of Zambia, women’s knowledge of wild mushrooms is passed down to their children. This presentation explores how women mushroom gatherers continue to feed, heal, and support their communities through practices grounded in traditional ecological knowledge and biocultural diversity. The article which is submitted for review to Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine draws on my MSc fieldwork in Zambia.

In Zambia mushrooms are an important subsistence during rainy season. Women walk long distances into the forest to gather edible and medicinal mushrooms. Mushroom knowledge is a source of income and independence - and it’s seen as a vital skill for young women.

Where rural health clinics serve villages, women still turn to medicinal fungi to support the health and wellbeing of themselves and their children. Their knowledge reflects a continuity of observation and care that links human and forest health.

As deforestation and land conversion threaten the miombo, both fungal abundance and the oral traditions surrounding them are at risk. Yet women’s daily work with mushrooms also embodies quiet acts of conservation—protecting biodiversity through sustained use, singing and storytelling, and intergenerational learning.

By centering fungi within ethnobiology, this presentation invites broader recognition of women’s ecological expertise and its role in sustainable livelihoods. The voices of miombo women remind us that the forest sings back through those who listen, gather, heal, and keep knowledge alive.