Mushrooms and the law (4/4)
By Daniel Butler, forager and author
Please read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the blog series first.
PRINCIPLES AND ETIQUETTE
As the first three blogs have shown, plants and fungi enjoy far less protection than most people imagine. This ignorance extends to many countryside custodians, some of whom put up signs forbidding foraging. This may be their wish, but it does not make it true.
Signage may imply - but doesn’t bestow - illegality
(Image: Author’s own)
Quite apart from the legal situation, preventing the gathering of wild produce would immediately be riddled with inconsistencies. This even extends to selling wild-based products. For example, what about a Women’s Institute blackberry jam stall? Can this be legal while the small business selling bilberry liqueur on the next stall is not? Is it reasonable to ban harvesting living seaweed while allowing the public to gather flotsam?
There are dozens of foragers who lead educational forays. Is this ‘commercial’? Also, on most of these courses it is not the tutor but the participants who harvest. Certainly, the tutor may charge for their expertise, but a primary school teacher taking pupils to gather materials for a science class is also paid - as is a professional botanist or mycologist conducting field work.
Foraging courses are increasingly popular - is this ‘commercial foraging’?
(Image: Author’s Own)
Nonetheless, common sense should prevail when foraging. It may not be illegal to harvest wild produce on nature reserves or private land, but it usually causes more upset than it’s worth – particularly if it leads to a noisy public altercation.
As Blog 2 explains, a Site of Special Scientific Interest designation confers no extra protection to plants or fungi growing there. Most people - even the authorities - don’t realise this and the same goes for private land, but even when the forager is completely in the right, altercations are upsetting for everyone and can tarnish foraging’s reputation.
It is generally much better to be open. Permission will be granted more often than not, but if it is denied try to negotiate and give some ground if necessary before pointing out it is perfectly legal. A fight should be the last resort.
Also, one should always demonstrate an appreciation of nature. Harvesting should be sustainable and ethical with a consideration of the interactions between plants, fungi and their importance to animals and other humans. Harvesting fungi has no impact on future fruiting, but gathering huge quantities of flowers, foliage or seed pods can have a lasting impact. Sustainability should be the watchword: it’s fine to take one or two samples to identify at home, but only harvest in quantity when you’re sure of the species and don’t take more than you think you can use.
A bumper haul maybe too big to eat fresh, but a bonanza preserves well
(Image: Author’s Own)
That said, there are often bumper crops of preservable produce. Gathering these may be perfectly responsible and sustainable, but passers-by could still misunderstand if they see someone staggering to a car with over-laden baskets. Try to protect foraging’s reputation.
These four blogs have addressed an arcane corner of UK law. The field is obscured by a case law fog spanning the centuries, but for once the legislators and judges seem generally on the side of the landless individual rather than the landowner. There will always be calls from land managers for new restrictive legislation, but few politicians will want to stir this particular pot. It would mean overturning 800 years of case law and there is no objective evidence of a significant problem.
Nevertheless, harsh signage and scare stories are unlikely to cease. We foragers need to keep on our toes. The best defence is to project a positive image: that far from being damaging, foraging is sustainable, ethical and encourages an appreciation of the environment and nature.
Find out about Welsh foraging workshops with Daniel here
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