#203: The Theft Act 1978

The Theft Act 1978 is important for foragers, or others collecting wild plants and fungi. This may be relevant if students are going to be taken into nearby woodland, and teachers are wanting to develop their own skills by foraging and identifying plants and fungi.

Growing up, my parents used to take us to various spots in local woodland during autumn to pick blackberries. My mum would then turn these into jam, straining the fruit through muslin bags on upside down chairs in the dining room overnight.

The Theft Act makes it illegal to collect any wild plant or fungi for commercial purposes without the landowners’ permission.

It is not an offence to collect for personal use, if you are technically trespassing all the landowner can do is ask you to leave by the quickest and safest route.

Theft Act 1978 clause:

(3) 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 the purposes of this subsection “mushroom” includes any fungus, and “plant” includes any shrub or tree.

Source: TotallyWild

So, unless you are selling what you pick, it is fine to collect mushrooms to eat, although it's best to ask the landowners' permission.

Other advice is:

Only pick what you will consume
Try to leave a site so that no one would have know you've been there.
Stick to the four F’s: flowers, fruit, foliage and fungi. 

The Woodland Trust has provided some guidelines.