In Italy, the white truffle is threatened by the climate

Deep in a thick forest in Italian Piedmont, the hunt for the white Alba truffle is in full swing. Excited, the dogs zigzag and dig in the ground. But this culinary treasure is becoming increasingly rare, undermined by climate change.

“Go look! Where is she?” Carlo Marenda, a truffle hunter in his spare time, calls Gigi, seven months old, and Buk, 13 years old, crosses between Spinone and Lagotto Romagnolo, known for their very fine sense of smell.

Sought after by gourmets and starred chefs around the world, the white scams of Albathe most prestigious in the world, is an underground mushroom that grows in symbiosis with certain trees by attaching to their roots. Its intense and refined scent, a mix of hay, garlic and honey, allows hunting dogs to detect it up to a meter deep.

Introduced to truffle hunting at the age of five by a family friend, Carlo Marenda, 42, founded the “Save the truffle” association in 2015, alongside Edmondo Bonelli, researcher in natural sciences. It is a solitary octogenarian “trifulau”, Giuseppe Giamesio, known under the name “Notu”, the last descendant of a family with a century-old truffle tradition, who bequeathed him his dogs and his knowledge before his death in 2014.

In 30 years, the areas dedicated to white truffles in Italy have fallen by 30%, gradually giving way to more profitable vineyards, but also to hazelnut groves. The Langhe hills supply a large quantity of hazelnuts to the chocolate giant Ferrero, founded in 1946 in Alba, a small prosperous town of 30,000 inhabitants.

But the main threat to the white truffle, the picking of which was classified in 2021 as UNESCO’s intangible heritage of humanity, is climate change. Global warming, drought, deforestation and sudden temperature variations are all factors that are weakening the natural habitat of this fungus.

To survive, the truffle needs cold and humidity. However, at the beginning of November, the thermometer rose to 20 degrees. “With the extension of summer, production drops,” laments Carlo Marenda.

The harvest, which runs from October to the end of January, is getting shorter. And while waiting for the extreme cold and snow, “the aroma of the truffles is not yet 100% and they keep less long”. The effect of the heavy rains of recent weeks can also be harmful: “If there is too little water, the truffle does not grow. If there are too many, it rots.

The white truffle, an endangered species? “Not at the moment. But if we do not act, it risks becoming so,” said Mario Aprile, president of the association of Piedmontese truffle researchers.

Faced with exploding demand and limited supply, white truffles are trading at a high price, reaching 4,500 euros per kilo this year at the great Alba fair which ends on December 8.

Two “twin” truffles with a total weight of 905g, a find by Mario Aprile, were sold for 140,000 euros on Sunday to a Hong Kong financial magnate during the traditional Alba charity auction.