Foraging and the Law

[Toadflax]

Following a recent thread, there have been a few requests for a sticky thread on foraging, the law, rights and responsibilities.

Whilst I’m no expert on this, I’ve an interest and I’m happy to collate information gathered from this thread into this first posting, to keep it all handy.

Can we please try and keep this thread as factual as possible, and not go off into big arguments as to what we should or shouldn’t be permitted to do.

Can I also say that, IMHO, the right to gather something doesn’t mean that you should necessarily exercise that right. Please be considerate not only of other humans, but also the other fauna which may depend on what you are picking.

I would also advise, from personal experience, that if you are challenged you should be polite and apologetic and offer to return what you have picked. Your last hour or two may have been wasted, but an apology will often take the anger out of the challenger and may well lead to permission to continue.

The scale of your foraging is also likely to affect how you are perceived. Gathering a tupperware box of blackberries will almost certainly be seen differently to a group of 20 people with huge buckets.

There is also a potential difference between gathering food items and firewood, though I'm not sure if they are legally differentiated. An 'official' may ignore you picking sloes, but challenge you if you were gathering firewood.

To paraphrase from elsewhere on this forum:

1. To be exact section 4 paragraph 3 of the 1968 theft act It states (verbatim)
A person who picks mushrooms growing wild on any land, or who picks flowers,
fruit or foliage from a plant growing wild on any land, does not (although not in possession
of the land) steal what he picks, unless he does it for reward or for sale or other commercial
purpose.
For purposes of this subsection ‘mushroom’ includes any fungus, and ‘plant’ includes any
shrub or tree
Source here

http://www.lawteacher.net/PDF/TA 1968.pdf


There really aren't that many laws in England that cover such things - CROW, Theft act and WCA are the main three, plus the various firearms laws for those with an interest in such things.

I'd suggest the following link as a good place to learn about foraging law

http://www.wildmanwildfood.co.uk/pages/foraging and the law.htm

For those north of the border, the guidelines on foraging in the forest lands can be found here,
http://www.forestharvest.org.uk/home.htm
The main responsible access guidelines for foraging in Scotland can be found here,
http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/out-and-about/recreation-activities/berries-and-mushrooms/

This first post is far from complete, but will hopefully prompt some other links, etc. that I can incorporate.

If the Mods think this should be a sticky, can it please be made so?


Geoff

 

[Toadflax]

So after a bit more research on the subject this morning, let's try and set some simple guidelines on what is legal, based on what I can gather from the various documents. Remember, we're discussing here what is legal, and I think the thread should remain that way. If individuals feel they can 'get away with' more that's up to them, but BCUK can't condone or promote that.

This covers England - rules in Scotland do seem to differ.

For private land, you must have the owner's permission, and, stricly speaking, this does seem to include stuff that overhangs public land (e.g. a tree hanging over a fence).

For public rights of way (e.g. public footpaths), you do appear to have a right to gather parts of wild plants that you can reach from the footpath provided you are not doing it commercially. Does this include fallen twigs? I'm not sure.

Nature reserves do not count as public rights of way and may have their own rules, so picking from a public footpath that goes through a Nature Reserve /SSSI might not be permitted.

For CRoW access land (marked on the 1:25000 OS maps with a beige bordered shading and can be found on a scrollable map here: http://www.openaccess.naturalengland.org.uk/wps/portal/oasys/maps/MapSearch), you are not permitted to pick anything. I'm not sure how this applies when you are on a public footpath that crossed CRoW land.

There are, of course, other restrictions such as not uprooting wild plants without the landowners permission (so you can't dig up a Burdock root on a public footpath) and protected species.

Overall, therefore, this seems to imply that in England, legal foraging is effectively restricted to wild plants that you can reach from a public footpath. However, when you look at an OS map, we are actually very well provided for in this respect.


Geoff

 

[Toadflax]

Following a suggestion from another member, I'm opening up a couple of posts near the beginning of this thread, so that I can edit in collections of links, etc. that are all near the start of the thread. This ought to make it easier for readers to find information rather than scrabbling through the entire thread.


Geoff

 

[Ph34r]

well, if it's what we can reach formt he footpath, then one of these could beocme a new bushcraft aid
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8650751/Trail/searchtext>REACH.htm

Interestign post, and I am looking forward to seeing more!

 

[Toadflax]

When I get a bit more time, and as other links come in, I'll update this post to collate all the links in one place.


Geoff

 

[British Red]

Here's another useful bit of text for you Geoff

These are the provisions of the (amended) Wildlife and Countryside Act on protection of wild plants

Protection of plants
13 Protection of wild plants.(1)Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person—.
(a)intentionally picks, uproots or destroys any wild plant included in Schedule 8; or.
(b)not being an authorised person, intentionally uproots any wild plant not included in that Schedule,.
he shall be guilty of an offence.
(2)Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person—.
(a)sells, offers or exposes for sale, or has in his possession or transports for the purpose of sale, any live or dead wild plant included in Schedule 8, or any part of, or anything derived from, such a plant; or.
(b)publishes or causes to be published any advertisement likely to be understood as conveying that he buys or sells, or intends to buy or sell, any of those things,.
he shall be guilty of an offence.
(3)Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), a person shall not be guilty of an offence by reason of any act made unlawful by that subsection if he shows that the act was an incidental result of a lawful operation and could not reasonably have been avoided..
(4)In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (2)(a), the plant in question shall be presumed to have been a wild plant unless the contrary is shown..
Annotations:
Extent Information
E1This version of this provision extends to England and Wales only; a separate version has been created for Scotland only
.13 Protection of wild plants.(1)Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person—.
(a)intentionally [F1or recklessly] picks, uproots or destroys .
[F2(i)] any wild plant included in Schedule 8; or.
[F3(ii)any seed or spore attached to any such wild plant; or].
(b)not being an authorised person, intentionally [F4or recklessly] uproots any wild plant not included in that Schedule,.
he shall be guilty of an offence.
(2)Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person—.
(a)sells, offers or exposes for sale, or has in his possession or transports for the purpose of sale, any live or dead wild plant included in Schedule 8, or any part of, or anything derived from, such a plant; or.
(b)publishes or causes to be published any advertisement likely to be understood as conveying that he buys or sells, or intends to buy or sell, any of those things,.
he shall be guilty of an offence.
(3)Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), a person shall not be guilty of an offence by reason of any act made unlawful by that subsection [F5 (“an unlawful act&#8221 if he shows—.
(a)that the unlawful act was the incidental result of a lawful operation or other activity;.
(b)that the person who carried out the lawful operation or other activity—.
(i)took reasonable precautions for the purpose of avoiding carrying out the unlawful act; or.
(ii)did not foresee, and could not reasonably have foreseen, that the unlawful act would be an incidental result of the carrying out of the lawful operation or other activity; and.
(c)that the person who carried out the unlawful act took, immediately upon the consequence of that act becoming apparent, such steps as were reasonably practicable in the circumstances to minimise the damage to the wild plant in relation to which the unlawful act was carried out.].

[F6(3A)Subject to the provisions of this Part, any person who knowingly causes or permits to be done an act which is made unlawful by any of the foregoing provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence.].
(4)In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (2)(a) [F7or for an offence under subsection (3A) relating to an act which is mentioned in subsection (2)(a)] , the plant in question shall be presumed to have been a wild plant unless the contrary is shown.

Source:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1981/cukpga_19810069_en_6#v00030-pt1-pb3-l1g23