2025
23-25 May, Ardenz

The Annual Board and General Assembly in 2025 will be held 23-25 May in Ardenz, the Engadin, Switzerland
and is being organized by Dr. Stefan Flückiger
2025
 12 March 

Visiting Dr. Teresa Iturriaga at the Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium (CUP)  




Peter Trutmann spent an afternoon visiting Dr. Iturriaga. Director of CUP in Ithaca, NY to discuss best forms of preparing and storing fungi as GMA is currently preparing to help UPCH in Lima to prepare the collected samples for storage in the Herbarium. We also discussed ways of sending samples for molecular analysis. (lower image)..  Thank you Teresa! 
2025
6 March 

Planning Meeting and celebrations in St Gallen

Three GMA members, Marco Baltensweiler, Stefan Flückiger and Bruno Stöckli met in Rapperswil, St. Gallen, to plan for the next General Assembly and to jointly celebrate birthdays.  It was decided to hold the 2025 GMA Assembly and Board Meeting in Ardenz, Engadin on 23-25 May.
Amarilda & Peter with Maritza VIllavicencio (left)
2025
5 February 

Meeting with historian Maritza Villavicencio

We connected with Maritza who is a well known author and has organised various very relevant events, including the recent 'Women of power in ancient Peru'  exhibition together with artists.  The objective was to learn about her projects and interests and to describe more clearly our work over the last years. Most of her efforts currently are associated with the revaluation and empowerment of women.   It appeared we had more in common and knew common friends.  She kindly provided us with help to contact individual to visit during a planned trip to the north which we finally postponed.  
Magdalena Pavlich and daughter with the mushroom and Peter Trutmann 
2025
2 February
Meeting and gifts from Dra Magdalena Pavlich 

Dr. ​Magdalena Pavlich Herrera is an icon of Peruvian mycology and taxonomy.  She has been supportive of GMA work since 2010, and opened her laboratory at the UPCH in Lima for our work, provided taxonomic guidance to the Andean collection project, and agreed to the UPCH as custodian of the physical collection.   In 2017 she organised the Latin American Mycology Congress in Lima and provided a venue to for GMA to present our work in Mycology to an international audience.  This time she kindly presented Peter Trutmann with a delightful painting of an Agaricus species.  We continue to work with her on the collection.  Magdalena is one of the authors of the compendium we have published entitled: The Mushrooms of Andean Peru  Part 1. 
With Dr. Luis Huaman at the UPCH herbarium
Oh happy day!  Rediscovering our collection that we had thought lost
2025 
29 January
Reconnecting with the UPCH to support the incorporation of the Andean mushroom collection into the herbarium.

Meeting with Dr. Luis Huaman, Director of the Herbarium and the Paleobotany laboratory. 

Since 2020 and the COVID 19 emergency we lost contact with the collection that was left at the Universidad Peruano Cayetano Herrera (UPCH).  Our friend and close partner Magdalena Pavlich had retired changes at the university had made navigating the situation difficult.  It was feared the collection had been lost. Efforts to reconnect were hampered in 2023.  Finally this year we managed to connect and met him in his laboratory and found part of the collection, We also toured the Herbarium, provided Luis with official information about our collection and discussed our role in supporting the incorporation of the collection to the Herbarium.  The connection of Luis also with archaeology but lack of knowledge of mycology also opens another area that offers fertile ground for future collaboration.  However, the current plan is to work with UPCH to secure the collection. We have agreed on mid to late February to begin this work. ​
Mushrooms on the stela
2025
23 January

Submission of paper of GMA research with John Henderson, of Cornell University, to the anthropological Journal Chungara entitled:
INTERPRETING THE MESSAGE OF THE PACOPAMPA STELA USING MUSHROOM IMAGERY AND NEW INSIGHT FROM TWO GEOMETRIC MOTIFS WITH WIDER APPLICATION TO UNDERSTAND EARLY ANDEAN COSMOVISION. 

​In the paper contains description of the oldest mushroom shapes on pre Hispanic South America and probably the America and the first interpretation of messages using geometric motifs.  We are cautiously optimistic that the paper will be accepted. as the paper presents very new material. 
The 4000 year old montegrande temple near Jaén, Cajamarca.
2025
20 January 

Meeting with archaeologist, Quirino Olivera
Quirino is one of the aarchaeologists who has turned our understanding of Amazonian history up side down!  In partidular, he and his colleagues have found unconvered a temple aged at least 4000 years with evidence of cacao production.  Amarilda Luque has been investigating the cacao market and we are interested in understanding genuine cacao traditions.  The site at Montegrande, Jaén in the mountainous high selva is also renowned for Psilocybe cubensis which in turn connects to our discovery of its shape on a stela at the 2500 year old Pacopampa site only 50-70 km away as the crow flies.  The site also features a spiral (see image) whose interpretation we can help with.  We plan to visit the site with him at the end of the year and hope to begin some collaborative work in the future. 
2025
January

Amarilda Luque takes charge of communication and promotion at GMA. One of the deficits over the years has been adequate publicity of our activities.  We have confidence that this problem will now be resolved. 
 
2025
December- 2024 and January 2025
Visit of Dr. Keith Williams

Peter Trutmann Sharing a well earned lucuma ice-cream with Dr. Keith Williams, from Athabasca University, Mi'kma'ki (Nova Scotia) Canada.  Keith is interested in our work on mushrooms and indigenous cultures from the research perspective of mental health and healing. as well as retrieving and  revaluing lost knowledge.  
Amarilda Luque and Peter Trutmann of GMA with the author and historian Maritza Villavicencio with the artistic  organiser of the exhibition. 

2024
22 December 
'Women of Power in Ancient Peru' exhibition

​Mixing art with History to send a message. In the background the Lady of Cao a powerful female leader and shaman with Warclubs in the shape of Psilocybe mushrooms.  It is a means GMA is interested in exploring. 
2024
21 December
Meetings at the Museo Rafael Larco, Lima

Update meeting with the Director Ulla Holmquist and Curator Giannina Boon the analysis of the Pacopampa stela that is housed in the museum.  We have discovered the oldest images in South America and probably the Americas on the stela dating from the Mid Formative era about 2700 to 2500 years ago.  It shows demonstrates visually the long association of Peruvian Andean people with mushrooms, and their importance in sacred rituals and beliefs.
Climbing beans in the Virunga mountains, Rwanda
2024 
20 December

Traditional Agriculture and Beans in Africa

Establishment of joint discussion group on African Phaseolus bean production and current state of the Great Lakes Region with  Mike Dessert, Joachim Voss, Willi Graf  and Peter Trutmann who were part of the first African CIAT bean team.  Purpose to reconnect and reflect on the work and its impact 40 years later.  

​

2024
3-5 October

The Dumbarton Oaks Conference, Washington 
and connecting with Chris Donnan and Tim Dillehay. 

The conference enabled update on new developments and make connections with with archeologists. The time in Washington enabled a very good pre-conference discussions with Chris Donnan whose work documenting the Moche Iconography is highly respected,  
Tom Dillehay was another important connection. He discovered the oldest evidence of mushroom use in the Americas, if not the world dating between 14 and 18,000 years ago.  However, he never published the results except as a brief mention.  Tom generously sent me the full information which we can now use in the research publications on Mushrooms of Ancient Peru and Mushrooms of South America.  It is key information. 
2024 
25-26 March

Representing GMA at the 7th BioTrade Congress at the UNCTAD in Geneva. The purpose of the Congress was to propose policy recommendations and actions from government, business and civil society on how trade and trade policy can accelerate implementation of the Biodiveristy plan that was developped at the Kunming Montreal Framework at COP 15 meeting in 2022.  Observing, updating ourselves and connecting.
From left: Peter Trutmann, Bruno Stöckli, Amarilda Luque, Stefan Flückiger and Marco Baltensweiler
Annual Meeting 2024
​15-17 March

This year we held our Annual Meeing at our Global Mountain Center in the Casa Guardamunt, Orselina, Tessin

15-17 March, 2024

The Meeting included a social program
of cooking local dishes, enjoying meals with the many discussions,  even  a Peruvian chocolate tasting,
and of course  a hike in the nearby mountains

​
Social Activities
16 March 2024 ​
​​The 2024 Social hike to the Romanesque bridge and a landmark an old church, Chiesa Rotta, above Lago Maggiore, in Tessin​
2024
22 February 
Amarilda Luque been responding to people in urban areas for talks about cultivating herbs and plants in their apartments and homes  through her GMA liked Mimacetita work.   Other recent presentations have been on agro-business topics in support of members of cooperatives under the umbrella of GMA.

Her recent presentations can be found in the on the RAISING AWARENESS page 
2024
30-31 January

A trip in early 2024 to the Lake Titicaca in Puno by Amarilda Luque and Peter Trutmann included a visit to the Universidad Nacional del Altiplano for discussions with Prof. Jorge Apasa (Anthropology) and Prof. Roberto Ramos (Archaeology).  During the visit were invited to talk about the GMA work and introduce anthropology students to mushrooms and their cultural connections.
 2023
June 

Our member, Stefan Flückiger, together with colleagues has recently launched the NGO, Faire Märkte Schweiz (Fair Markets Switzerland) and has become its President and Executive Manager.    FMS is a platform with objective to create fairer and more just markets in which constructive competition is ensured in the interest of all actors, especially the weaker contracting parties, and which ultimately enables the transformation towards more sustainable markets.
​Congratulations Stefan!