Which fungi are protected in Poland

Species protection is set by the Polish Minister of the Environment's regulation of 9 October 2014. Strict and partial protection differ in their permitted exceptions, but neither is a decorative atlas label.

The act has a countable structure: Annex 1 contains 232 numbered strict-protection entries and Annex 2 contains 90 partial-protection entries, for 322 legal entries in total. Annex 3 adds no species; it identifies ten partially protected entries that may be collected by specified methods by an entity holding an RDOŚ or GDOŚ permit. The lists also include lichenised fungi—lichens.

The number 322 is not an immutable total of currently accepted biological species. The law uses names and taxonomic scope fixed in 2014, while taxonomy changes. Legal status follows the wording of the act, not a red-list category or a newer atlas name. Counting numbered rows is nevertheless reproducible and more informative than saying only that “sources give different figures.”

Protection does not concern merely putting a fruit body in a basket. It may cover destruction, deliberate damage and interference with a site. Area rules matter too: in a national park or reserve, ordinary species are not collectible merely because they are absent from the protection list. The act's status was checked on 29 August 2026.