A fire, a mushroom, and Kashmir's vanishing spring

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Srinagar: Spring in Kashmir once brought the scent of pine sap and damp earth, the hush of melting snow, and the quiet rustle of footsteps combing the forest floor for a delicacy that blooms like a secret. The Gucchi mushroom—spongy, ridged, and among the world’s most expensive fungi—has long drawn foragers into the Himalayan woods, where it grows wild under deodar and pine.

But this year, the trails are blanketed in ash. The snow melted early. The forests are burning.

And the prized morel is vanishing with them. Read this | Kashmir tourism is on thin ice amid a second straight snowless winter Known for its earthy flavour, medicinal properties, and market value of up to ₹30,000 per kg, the elusive Morchella esculenta thrives in the damp, shady undergrowth of the northwest Himalayas. But that habitat is fast disappearing as wildfires—sparked by human activity and stoked by months of dry weather—scorch vast swathes of Kashmir’s forests.

The blaze is claiming more than trees. As the forest floor dries and darkens, morels are fading too—along with the fragile mountain economy and foraging traditions that depend on them. Riyaz Ahmad Bhat, a 49-year-old morel picker from Pulwama in south Kashmir, who has been harvesting Gucchis since he was 16, told Mint this is the worst damage he’s seen.

Fires have destroyed the forest floor, the moisture, and organic matter these priceless mushrooms rely on, Bhat said, adding that his collection is already down about 50% this season. Each spring—from March to June—locals armed with sharp eyes and careful hands forage for morels. But this year, morel pickers have struggled to find these spongy, ridged mushrooms amid the scorched forest floor.