For those of us who love to forage, autumn’s harvest is far from over.
Whether you’re on the hunt for wood sorrel or looking for cowberries, November is a pretty great month ― and it’s a good time for mushroom pickers, too. Unless, that is, they’re foraging for fungi in Epping Forest.
The ancient Essex woodlands are brimming with mushrooms this time of year. But The City of London Corporation has banned picking them, as the fungi are so important to the forest’s delicate ecosystem.
“Epping Forest’s 440 endangered fungi species are rare and scarce wood-loving fungi, and picking damages the valuable forest biodiversity that has developed over the past 10,000 years,” their site reads.
They noted that one person had been caught leaving the forest with 49kg of fungi packed into multiple black bags.
What’s the big deal?
Nine people have been arrested for fungi foraging in the area since 2022, with offenders receiving criminal records.
If that sounds extreme, well, so are the benefits of the mushrooms to the forest, experts say. The City of London Corporation says that, as well as supporting the trees, Epping Forest’s perfectly-adapted mushrooms also help to feed deer and rare insect species.
Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Epping Forest and Commons Committee, Ben Murphy, said that: “Fungi play a remarkably important role in the delicate balance of biodiversity which makes this ancient woodland so special.”
“Picking mushrooms can seem harmless, but it actually damages our wildlife habitats and threatens rare species,” he adds.
85% of the UK’s veteran beech pollards are found in the ancient forest, and it’s one of only three locations in Britain where you can find rare knothole yoke-moss.
It’s also home to “some of the rarest beech deadwood-dependent fungi in Europe,” so conservators argue that foraging your dinner in the thousands-year-old woods isn’t exactly appropriate.
“We want people to come and enjoy our ancient woodland and experience these natural wonders for themselves, but I hope by explaining why Epping Forest’s fungi is so unique, we can change behaviours and discourage foragers from this location. If not, as Conservators, we are duty bound to take enforcement action,” Murphy shared.
There are lots of other places in the UK to find your foraging hotspot, so you don’t need to miss out on your hand-picked dinners ― but if you want to avoid a criminal record, you’ll want to give Epping Forest a miss.