06 APR 2025
The Pinnacle Nature Reserve
5 plates
Join the Canberra Fungi Group on any of our forays — field trips in and around Canberra.
Anyone with an interest is welcome to become a member, from beginners and novices to expert mycologists.
Events are posted each autumn, in fungi season
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The Canberra Fungi Group is a volunteer citizen science group that seeks to locate, identify and record occurrences of fungi around Canberra. There is still relatively little known about fungi in Australia — their distribution, their substrata, their habitats.
Records made on a foray are submitted to NatureMapr, so a morning's walk becomes part of the public record of what grows here.
We do not teach people whether any fungi are edible.
Only people in our group with a licence under the Nature Conservation Act 2014 may take samples of the fungi we find, usually for scientific study — such as building a collection for the National Herbarium.
Events and activities
Eight seasons of forays. The rail below shifts between them in place — it never leaves this page.
There are no more events scheduled for 2026, and the 2027 season has not been determined yet.
For 2026 the season was three forays across April to June — Scrivener's Hut, McQuoids Hill and North Mitchell Grasslands — and a workshop on the macroscopic features of agarics at the Australian National Botanic Gardens on Saturday 30 May. A hand lens was useful. It did not cover identifying edible fungi.
Sunday 26 April 2026
Sunday 24 May 2026
Sunday 14 June 2026
Three two-hour forays across April to June, and a talk on what people used to say about fungi in print.
The Pinnacle Nature Reserve
Red Hill Nature Reserve
Goorooyaroo Nature Reserve
History talk, Australian National Herbarium
06 APR 2025
5 plates
18 MAY 2025
5 plates
15 JUN 2025
06 JUL 2025
3 plates
Two hours on what was historically said about fungi in publications aimed at the general public, published between about 1850 and 1950.
Forays and talks run for members of the Canberra Fungi Group.
Mount Majura Nature Reserve
Uriarra Crossing
Black Mountain
Herbarium talk, Australian National Herbarium
14 APR 2024
5 plates
25 MAY 2024
4 plates
22 JUN 2024
Saturday 20 July and 3 August 2024
4 plates
Two-hour talks on the herbarium itself, how a specimen travels from the field into the collection, and a viewing of display fungi specimens.
Forays on the last Saturday of March, April and May, opened to the public at $10 and capped at ten people. Every one booked out.
Gossan Hill Nature Park
Coppins Crossing
Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve
ABC Radio Afternoons
25 MAR 2023
4 plates
29 APR 2023
4 plates
27 MAY 2023
30 MAR 2023
Sonja, the group's founder and coordinator, was interviewed about fungi in Canberra and about the group.
Bookings through Eventbrite, capped at ten. Every foray reached the cap.
Gossan Hill Nature Park, Bruce
Coppins Crossing
Oakey Hill Nature Reserve, Lyons
06 MAR 2022
Cancelled due to rain.
19 MAR 2022
5 plates
10 APR 2022
5 plates
The first year records went to the Canberra Nature Map. Bookings were trialled through Eventbrite, capped at eight, and every foray filled.
The Pinnacle Nature Reserve, Hawker
Isaacs Ridge Nature Reserve
O'Connor Ridge Nature Reserve
Molonglo Gorge Recreation Reserve
Umbagong District Park, Latham
27 MAR 2021
5 plates
10 APR 2021
5 plates
17 APR 2021
5 plates
16 MAY 2021
5 plates
30 MAY 2021
Aranda Bushland Nature Reserve
Jerrabomberra Wetlands Nature Reserve
Red Hill Nature Reserve
Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve
15 APR 2018
06 MAY 2018
6 plates
17 MAY 2018
17 JUN 2018
We met at half past nine. It was a wonderful day, and a good number of interested people came along.
The earliest season the group has online. No photographs from it survive on the old site — only the dates and the places.
Aranda Bushlands
Mt Rogers Reserve
Red Hill Nature Reserve
Red Hill Nature Reserve
30 APR 2017
07 MAY 2017
28 MAY 2017
25 JUN 2017
Supported by
Attending forays
01
Members may attend our fungi forays. No prior understanding of fungi is required to participate, and those with experience should also be willing to assist.
For a period until 2023, forays were limited to only 10 adult participants who had registered, as we did not have memberships. We are now able to have up to 16 members attend each foray.
02
The Canberra Fungi Group is a not-for-profit citizen science group which aims to increase knowledge of fungi in the region. Records of fungi made during the foray will be submitted to NatureMapr.
We do not consume any fungi found on forays, nor do we seek to identify edible fungi.
Only people in our group with a licence under the Nature Conservation Act 2014 are permitted to take samples of the fungi we find, such as for the purpose of scientific study (like to create a collection for the National Herbarium).
We need people to find, identify, and record fungi on the foray. We usually work as a group: discussing and identifying fungi found. We currently have only a few volunteers with experience in identifying and recording fungi or to lead the forays or these events, so please help out with this if you can.
Members sign in, get a brief explanation of fungi and how the foray will run, we then search for fungi, photograph them, attempt to identify them so we can upload them as a record. Upon leaving, members sign out so we know no-one is missing.
Each foray goes for 2 hours (although you can leave earlier, but don't forget to sign out), and has an alternative date in case the first one is cancelled. Forays will be cancelled if it is raining, often within 1 hour of the scheduled event: check our Facebook site for cancellations, and we'll email members of the cancellation.
Children can come along under the supervision of their parent/guardian. Please do not attend if you are unwell.
03
Turn up wearing sensible enclosed walking shoes/boots for the outdoor reserve, clothes appropriate to the weather (usually long-sleeved to protect from branch scratches or animals, and rain jacket), hat, sunscreen and enough drinking water.
You may also wish to bring the following equipment if you have it: camera with macro function, hand lens, fungi identification resources.
Useful apps on your phone include:
Forays run with the support of Fungimap. Read the risk assessment before your first one.
Links
Fungi information & resources
Field Naturalist Club Victoria
Provides downloadable fungi identification e-books
fncv.org.au/fungi-in-australiaRecords & identification
NatureMapr
Report sightings of nature in Canberra and other Australian places, including fungi
canberra.naturemapr.orgOur documents
Risk AssessmentUnderstand the risks and obligations in participating in any of our fungi foray eventsContact and join
There is no membership form up at the moment: the 2026 events are done and 2027 hasn't been set. Write to us and we'll add you to the mailing list, so you hear when the next season opens.
Membership, 2026 season
Please don't send photographs of fungi for identification — the sites above are the place for that.
Write to us
canberrafungigrp@gmail.com