Driven by social media trends and rising ingredient costs, foragers are increasingly targeting sensitive environments such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Woodland Trust site manager Joe Middleton observed commercial pickers arriving in minibuses to harvest mushrooms along path edges. Under the Theft Act 1968, taking wild fungi for commercial sale without landowner permission constitutes criminal theft. To protect fragile ecosystems, the charity urges visitors to photograph wildlife instead of taking it.
Key points
Harvesting wild plants and fungi is strictly restricted or illegal within protected areas…: Harvesting wild plants and fungi is strictly restricted or illegal within protected areas like Woodland Trust sites.
Social media trends and increasing ingredient prices are driving the unsustainable surge…: Social media trends and increasing ingredient prices are driving the unsustainable surge in wild mushroom foraging.
Conservation groups urge the public to photograph natural habitats rather than taking fun…: Conservation groups urge the public to photograph natural habitats rather than taking fungi from protected spaces.
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- Published
The impacts of over-foraging natural spaces, particularly in protected areas, can damage habitats, a Devon charity has said.
The Woodland Trust said unsustainable harvesting of plants - and particularly fungi - could put wildlife under pressure.
Joe Middleton, site manager for the Woodland Trust, said he had seen commercial mushroom pickers "wiping out everything on the path edges they can find".
Under Section 4 of the Theft Act 1968, it is "perfectly legal to forage for fruit, foliage, flowers, and fungi on any land, provided they are wild and collected strictly for personal use", but "foraging becomes criminal theft if you pick wild plants for commercial sale or reward without permission".
Middleton said: "I have seen commercial pickers, dropped off in mini buses with bags for life, laden heavy with mushrooms and they are going through and they are wiping out everything on the path edges they can find, trampling the forest floor."
The majority of mushrooms are not edible to humans, so picking them can be potentially dangerous.
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