Reply To: Foraging 1: Where is everybody living? What is your foraging situation?

[Lynn]

Hi Zuza,
Great to hear more about your background and foraging situation. The tightness of the Dutch no-foraging rule seems to vary on where you are and how many people try to forage there. On June 21st, I read a message on Social Media from Gemeente Amsterdam, saying really clearly not to forage anything at all from Amsterdamse Bos, and some reasons why. That area and the Vondel Park are rightly really strict about it as so many people go there. There were also increasing messages last year, from the Park wardens in the whole country, on TV etc, about only harvesting a maximum if a small mushroom tub full of wild food. I am quite pleased about this as it shows they are realising how much foraging happens and trying to offer a way for people to do less harm with it. Still I see ridiculous signs of foraging though. My sadest last year was someone cut a whole Ganoderma from a low tree stump in Park Frankendael. The mushroom is perennial and grows bigger each year. Someone clearly wanted all of it for themself, rather than leaving it for everyone to admire, which was really sad to see.
I think we will see more guidelines and rules here in years to come.