Post by malteser60 on Apr 2, 2012 23:08:08 GMT
Hi guys! Spring has come to us early this year, with most of us enjoying the sunshine, although an upcoming hose-pipe ban may ruin all our fun in the garden! Booooo! However this has brought to my mind the legislation in the UK surrounding forraging and picking wildplants for our goos. Us at deguworld definitely do not want our members to be in trouble with the law, therefore I do hope all UK foragers have a good read of the do's and don'ts below!
If you live in the UK, however, there are rules and legistlation that need adhering too. So, to quote the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981:
Section 13 identifies measures for the protection of wild plants. It prohibits the unauthorised intentional uprooting of any wild plant species and forbids any picking, uprooting or destruction of plants listed on Schedule 8. It also prohibits the sale, etc, or possession for the purpose of sale of any plants on Schedule 8.
Note: it is not normally an offence to pick the 'Four Fs'; fruit, foliage, fungi or flowers - assuming that none of them are protected specifically - which are growing wild if they are for personal use and not for sale.
What this means essentially is that it is illegal to uproot any wild plant without permission from the landowner or occupier. However if the land is not owned by anybody specific (i.e apart from the Crown), it is not illegal to uproot a wild plant.
As a guide to the legislation in the UK please do obey the following:
Thus to sumarise your rights as a forager... do not pick any plants from a park. and to be a responsible forager. This means that you do not over-pick a plant in an area, you are aware of any rare plants in the vicinity (even if they are not suitable for your goos), also that you pick plants to a responsible means.
If you live in the UK, however, there are rules and legistlation that need adhering too. So, to quote the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981:
Section 13 identifies measures for the protection of wild plants. It prohibits the unauthorised intentional uprooting of any wild plant species and forbids any picking, uprooting or destruction of plants listed on Schedule 8. It also prohibits the sale, etc, or possession for the purpose of sale of any plants on Schedule 8.
Note: it is not normally an offence to pick the 'Four Fs'; fruit, foliage, fungi or flowers - assuming that none of them are protected specifically - which are growing wild if they are for personal use and not for sale.
What this means essentially is that it is illegal to uproot any wild plant without permission from the landowner or occupier. However if the land is not owned by anybody specific (i.e apart from the Crown), it is not illegal to uproot a wild plant.
As a guide to the legislation in the UK please do obey the following:
- Flowers growing in council parks are legally off-limits, so if you are caught foraging in a park, even if it is a dandelion, you will be arrested! This goes for roundabouts, verges, or any gardens planted by a particular organisation (ie community gardens), and nature reserves or protected land. Also if you insist of taking daffodils from your neighbour's front garden, you could face prosecution for theft, as well as the sharp end of their tongue!
- According to Dominic Price of wild plant protection charity Plantlife, "it is not normally an offence to pick the 'Four Fs' – fruit, foliage, fungi or flowers – if the plants are growing wild and it is for your personal use and not for sale." Dozens of rare or endangered plants – from the lady's slipper orchid and adder's tongue, to threadmoss and sandwort – are, however, protected under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, so pick those and you could face arrest (though you're unlikely to stumble across too many of them). Whatever you do, don't drag up the whole plant to resettle it in your own garden – the law firmly forbids the uprooting of any wild plant.
- The plants and flowers listed below are considered rare plants in the UK and thus are not allowed to be picked in any shape or form. I have tailored the list to those plants that are edible to degus:
- Purple Coltsfoot (Homogyne alpina)
- Shore dock (Rumex rupestris) also a European protected species
- Rough marshmallow (Althaea hirsuta)
Thus to sumarise your rights as a forager... do not pick any plants from a park. and to be a responsible forager. This means that you do not over-pick a plant in an area, you are aware of any rare plants in the vicinity (even if they are not suitable for your goos), also that you pick plants to a responsible means.