Calls for tougher measures to protect rare fungi

Ashdown Forest is home to rare species of fungi

Calls are being made for more prosecutions of illegal commercial foragers in Ashdown Forest to deter the destruction and theft of rare fungi.

The Conservators of Ashdown Forest made the appeal after reports emerged of people loading "large bags of fungi into vans" in the East Sussex forest.

It also coincides with the discovery of a rare mushroom on the site.

The tiered tooth fungus is on the UK's red list for being at risk of extinction.

“Last year a member of the public who was visiting the Forest on holiday found this fungus and, thankfully, recognised it and reported back to us," said countryside manager Ash Walmsley.

"It was the first recorded sighting for Ashdown Forest and a second for East Sussex.”

There have been reports of widespread foraging of fungi in the forest

The location of these rare fungi must be kept a secret as they are extremely vulnerable to commercial picking.

Every Autumn thousands are stripped out by illegal foragers who it is believed either steal to order or are paid for the edible part of their hauls by the food industry.

Mr Ash Walmsley said: “We have had reports of individuals loading large bags of fungi into vans.

"We are concerned that even the inedible and rare species are collected – so of no use to the restaurant trade– but every fungus is essential to the forest.

“Every year the same areas are targeted, and we see swathes of the forest stripped of all fungi. It is really upsetting to see areas that were full of mushrooms completely bare.”

Conservators say every autumn foragers strip parts of the forest bare of wild mushrooms

Chief executive Mark Pearson said: “Taking fungi for commercial purposes is illegal under the Theft Act 1968 but the fines are not big enough to deter the foragers.

“We want our visitors to be able to see and appreciate the amazing variety of weird and wonderful fungi that we have in Ashdown Forest."

The UK and Chile are proposing at the UN’s biodiversity conference COP16 in Colombia that fungi should receive an equal protection status to animals and plants.

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