Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article details the results obtained by means of the social investigation executed in the fall of 2016, in the frame of the Social Innovation Prototype, Hongusto. Semi-structured interviews were applied to 12 collectors, specialists and enthusiasts of previously identified, edible, sylvan fungi in the Aysén Region. The answers of the interviewees were analysed in two groups: by an ecological and also a sociological criterion. The ecological criteria focused on the types offorest (deciduous and evergreen.) The sociological criteria focused on the origin of the specific knowledge (Traditional Rural Knowledge [TRK] and those that represent a new approximation associated with the phenomena of migration in urban and rural areas, identified as Traditional Neo-Rural Knowledge [TNK]). It is found that the knowledge about edible, sylvan fungi does not form part of the traditional, cultural matrix in the region. The five species of edible fungi with culinary aptitude are recognized principally for their culinary aptitude, independent of the type of forest. The results permit the deepening of the social and environmental knowledge and the productive potential of the edible fungi that naturally occur in the region.