Overview

• Casual foraging for personal use is generally permitted if plants are not uprooted and the haul is not sold for profit.
• Picking without permission on private land risks trespass, and many protected areas such as SSSIs, National Nature Reserves and some Royal Parks ban foraging outright.
• Local authorities can issue fixed‑penalty notices typically ranging from about £100 to £300 for prohibited harvesting.
• Legal guidance cites the Theft Act 1968 for restrictions on digging up or damaging plants for commercial purposes, plus the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 for protected sites.
• Ecology consultants at Arbtech advise leaving plenty of berries for birds and avoiding damage to hedgerows during the August–early October peak.