Foraging licence

[sasha.p]

Just wondered does anyone know why the forestry comission stopped these?I live near wentwood and i can see when i walk my dogs stacks of logs that could be used for firewood i currently get my logs off the river which can be muddy at times and quickly blunts my chain as a result and am trying to find a better source for wood as i get through quiet a bit in the winter i dont want stuff already logged and split as i can do all that myself i just want lengths e.g like the stuff lying around wentwood ,i understand its good for habitat etc to leave some lying around for eco system benefits and what not but there seems to be loads left i cant understand why they stopped doing the foraging licence?or is there somthing that has replaced this and if so please can you advise me thanks

[Quickthorn]

I think it was health and safety issues. With the boom in wood burning stoves, all sorts of folk, with various levels of training and experience, were piling on to FC land, because they'd read in the papers they could feed their stove for free by just picking up offcuts etc. I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone hurt themselves and then tried to claim from the FC.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

With the population density we have in old blighty having random members of public scavenging any fallen or left wood could seriously harm the deadwood fauna of the U.K in a very short time frame.

 

We now habve teams of migrants gathering every fungi they find, at the end of the hunt they take the bags to the crew leader who sorts out those that have commercial value, and the rest are dumped.

 

Unfortunatley, laws only seem to stop those folk that do it occasionaly for themselves, and do little to deter commercial violations.

 

We have too little space and too many folks to be allowing a free for all foraging culture

[Bundle 2]

With the population density we have in old blighty having random members of public scavenging any fallen or left wood could seriously harm the deadwood fauna of the U.K in a very short time frame.

 

 

We have too little space and too many folks to be allowing a free for all foraging culture

 

That's an interesting point matey and one that was being discussed on the BBC radio earlier this week.

I think you are quite right in that the public at large could/would do untold damage to the deadwood fauna by the widsepread removal of wood for fuel.

Quickthorn is right in saying the auspices for the removal of this rite on FC land was H&S. I cant pretend to know whether it was simply more expedient to deny access via the route of H&S than to require biodiversity and conservation legislation to adequately protect the resource or whether it was never the intention to protect the deadwood fauna associated with the woodland owned by the FC. Typically (by comparison) european legislation is way ahead of that in the UK where the ecological concerns are of relevannce . I find it quite distressing to think the FC was guided by H&S on this. What a crock of crap. BUT, I'm kinda glad they did.

Im not sure I feel quite so strongly with respect the fungi. I probably do but the FB is only a small part of the organism and the idea that removing the FB prevents the effective distribution of spores is not quite as compelling an argument. The simple act of picking the shroom releases thousands of spores. However, there are whole communities of organisms that rely on the fb for breeding and pupation. Most are quite specialised and require specific conditions of the FB to succeed. Removing them clearly reduces the habitat available. Or so the argument goes.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

That's an interesting point matey and one that was being discussed on the BBC radio earlier this week.

I think you are quite right in that the public at large could/would do untold damage to the deadwood fauna by the widsepread removal of wood for fuel.

Quickthorn is right in saying the auspices for the removal of this rite on FC land was H&S. I cant pretend to know whether it was simply more expedient to deny access via the route of H&S than to require biodiversity and conservation legislation to adequately protect the resource or whether it was never the intention to protect the deadwood fauna associated with the woodland owned by the FC. Typically (by comparison) european legislation is way ahead of that in the UK where the ecological concerns are of relevannce . I find it quite distressing to think the FC was guided by H&S on this. What a crock of crap. BUT, I'm kinda glad they did.

Im not sure I feel quite so strongly with respect the fungi. I probably do but the FB is only a small part of the organism and the idea that removing the FB prevents the effective distribution of spores is not quite as compelling an argument. The simple act of picking the shroom releases thousands of spores. However, there are whole communities of organisms that rely on the fb for breeding and pupation. Most are quite specialised and require specific conditions of the FB to succeed. Removing them clearly reduces the habitat available. Or so the argument goes.

 

The biodiversity that revolves around fruiting bodies, and mycelium is still widely under researched, and little is known. i find many grubs of various kinds in fruit bodies, and have just recently learnt of one that is ONLY found INSIDE hollow beeches within fruit bodies of inonotus cuticularis.

 

it is folly to assume that harvesting fruit bodies does little damage to the eco system, it disrupts the natural cycle of many organisms, even succsesion by other fungi, some fungi are specialists, like volvariella surrecta, the piggy back rosegill which feeds on the decaying fruit bodies of cltocybe nebularis, the cloudy funnel. Then there is the parasitic bolete found in association with scleroderma citrinum, there is no way of knowing just how many of these complex relationships exist, but can be sure its huge, and until we know more it is safe to assume that fruit body harvesting should be eliminated from sites if SSSI or SAC status, without exception.

[Xerxses]

The biodiversity that revolves around fruiting bodies, and mycelium is still widely under researched, and little is known. i find many grubs of various kinds in fruit bodies, and have just recently learnt of one that is ONLY found INSIDE hollow beeches within fruit bodies of inonotus cuticularis.

 

it is folly to assume that harvesting fruit bodies does little damage to the eco system, it disrupts the natural cycle of many organisms, even succsesion by other fungi, some fungi are specialists, like volvariella surrecta, the piggy back rosegill which feeds on the decaying fruit bodies of cltocybe nebularis, the cloudy funnel. Then there is the parasitic bolete found in association with scleroderma citrinum, there is no way of knowing just how many of these complex relationships exist, but can be sure its huge, and until we know more it is safe to assume that fruit body harvesting should be eliminated from sites if SSSI or SAC status, without exception.

 

Don't forget micro butterflies and microbeetles... -one beetle has only been found, as far as I know, in Phellinus igniarius feeding on spores.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Don't forget micro butterflies and microbeetles... -one beetle has only been found, as far as I know, in Phellinus igniarius feeding on spores.

 

cool post Xerxses, where did you read that?

 

I took a large Gano resinaceum bracket this year, on checking it a while back to my horror it wieghed zero and was hooching with some very large larvea of some kind!

[Bundle 2]

Tony...this is the aspect of the Hatfield "Biology of decay etc " that you would have found interesting me thinks......(like me actually! )

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Tony...this is the aspect of the Hatfield "Biology of decay etc " that you would have found interesting me thinks......(like me actually! )

 

i would have reveled in that course, i was in a financial creek without a paddle at the time though.

 

Things are however looking up, got some mates helping with the refurb and soon i will be renting out two rooms, and having an easier time of it financialy speaking, then youll see me EVERYWHERE on the seminar circuit!

[Bundle 2]

Good bro'...