White truffles are on sales at the truffle fair of Alba, northwestern Italy, on November 1, 2024. 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, a researcher in natural sciences. It was an octogenarian "trifulau" loner, Giuseppe Giamesio, known as "Notu" and the last descendant of a family with a century-old truffle tradition, who revealed his secrets to him and bequeathed his dogs just before his death in 2014. The master's message was a testament: "If we want to prevent the disappearance of the truffle, we must protect the forests, stop polluting the waterways and plant new 'truffle' trees". (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)