Rhyze is a workers’ cooperative in Edinburgh who have delivered a previously funded feasibility study into the social, ecological and commercial case for Chaga cultivation in Scotland.

This grant will support the next stage of their work to produce a stable and reliable strain of native chaga in vitro which can be used to produce commercial chaga dowel spawn for distribution in Scotland and the UK. The group will also create an accessible best practice guide for small woodland owners who want to diversify into ecologically responsible chaga cultivation. Several trial sites will be established for the long-term monitoring of cultivated chaga behaviour and strain productivity.

If you are a forester, birch woodland owner, herbalist, forager or ecologist curious about chaga cultivation and would like to get in touch with Rhyze about their research, please feel free to contact [email protected].