Mushroom-picking

The New Forest National Park Authority supports the England ‘Wild Mushroom Pickers’ Code of Conduct’. 

People should pick only from plentiful populations of fungi and take enough only for personal consumption.  As a guide, this means that no more than 1.5kg should be taken in any visit and no more than half of the fruiting bodies of any one species present should be taken.

People should take care to identify fungi accurately and should respect and protect rare and/or poisonous species.

Anyone who wishes to collect fungi for profit must obtain the written permission of the landowner first.

The diversity of fungi in the New Forest National Park – more than 2,600 species have been recorded – and the high proportion of rare and notable species is one of the Park’s special qualities.

Small-scale collection of mushrooms is unlikely to have a major impact on wild populations because spores will have been dispersed by the time a well-developed mushroom has opened and matured.

Commercial collection might have an impact on wild fungi if the vast majority of fruiting bodies are removed on a regular basis, leading to reduced levels of spore production and a threat to some of the nationally rare species in the New Forest National Park.