Unesco's body of experts has given a positive opinion to the candidacy of the "truffle hunting" to enter the list of World Heritage Sites. The final decision is expected from December 13 to 18, at the conclusion of a candidacy process formally submitted by Italy in March 2020. In Italy, the search and collection of truffles is a complex practice, with special legislation enacted to prevent 'quarrying' being carried out in such a way as to cause damage to truffle beds.

The law that regulates the sector was launched after the increase of truffle collection carried out with non eco-compatible practices. The search for truffles is a practice that requires experience and constancy. Normally, the truffle hunter, in order to find the precious food inside the truffle grounds, uses a dog, whose sense of smell is indispensable in the identification of the truffle.

The candidacy of the truffle as World Heritage is an important step to defend a system marked by a special relationship with nature, in a ritual rich in anthropological and cultural aspects that develops, in the territories, a business estimated at over half a billion euros.

The announcement came in a particular year for the climatic conditions that have caused the average price of white truffles to shoot up to 450 euros per hundred grams at the Alba truffle exchange, a national reference point for the most precious tuber in Italy. What has raised the prices is the long period of drought that has slowed the births of the truffle but it is hoped in the positive effects of bad weather with continuous rainfall from early autumn in the regions suitable for the collection, from Marche to Calabria, from Umbria to Molise, from Abruzzo to Tuscany to Lazio and Piedmont. The Tuber magnatum Pico involves in Italy about 200,000 official collectors who supply stores and restaurants. Generally speaking, however, truffles cost a lot because spontaneous tubers are very rare and they take years to grow. Moreover, the price of truffles is also affected by the cost of the equipment used to collect them.