One of the first things our group did was to develop shared agreements for how we would work with lichen. We want to cultivate respectful relationships with it. Our guidelines have required us get creative in our approaches; rather than harvesting it to create artwork, we have made photographs, 3D scans, and borrowed lichens from the fallen branches thrown into the green waste piles at our university. This was written by the “Lichen Likers” research group in 2023: Anna Arbogast, Madison Blue, Xiuer Gu, Elias Marquez, Nathan Tyler, Doosung Yoo, and Amy Youngs.
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- If a lichen is on a tree or rock, don’t disturb it or remove any part.
- Lichens can only be collected for use in artwork if they will otherwise be destroyed, for instance, if it is attached to a fallen branch or tree that is going to be chopped up for firewood, composted, or turned into mulch.
- If a lichen has fallen onto the ground in a place where it is in peril of vehicles, or foot traffic, then it is okay to take.
- If it has fallen into an undisturbed area, leave it alone, since it will continue to propagate itself and feed the surrounding ecosystem.
- If there is an artistic reason to remove a fallen lichen for further study, observation, drawing, photography, etc. you must put it back where you found it once you are done.
- Be clear in your intentions. Ask yourself about the interventions you are incurring. Is there really a positive outcome for the species overall, even if an individual is harmed?
- Be respectful and value lichen’s right to life. Don’t harm them or cause them undue stress.
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