When it comes to mushrooms, some collectors can’t seem to fill their basket. There are strict rules in the forest. A forester from Schluchsee is happy when the mushroom season is over.
The Black Forest is a paradise for mushroom pickers. The season is good – too good, thinks a forester. Because some people are downright collectors. They don’t seem to care about all the rules for protecting mushrooms, forests and animals, as Hubert Kapp from Schluchsee reports.
Hordes of mushroom pickers in the forest
It’s eight o’clock in the morning on a weekday. A dark car in the forest makes forester Hubert Kapp suspicious. Kapp looks through his binoculars. A large pocket can be seen inside. He is sure that the car belongs to a mushroom picker. A little later he spots the man through his binoculars in a protected forest area above the hiking trail. He would like to control him now. But by the time he gets up there, says Kapp, the man will be long gone.
Kapp’s district is located on Schluchsee (Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district). The moist mixed forest is ideal for mushrooms. The forester complains that the last long weekend was a catastrophe. The mushroom pickers literally overran the forest. They were everywhere, behind every tree, in every shelter, he says. With large bags, huge baskets and bicycle bags.
Are mushrooms sold illegally?
He is happy when he meets people with small baskets or cloth bags. Enjoy chatting with them. Most of them are fine, he says. They collect their portion for dinner. That is absolutely okay. What annoys him are those who disappear into the forest with big bags and camouflage clothing. As he says, the bile overflows him.
You can clearly feel his anger. His anger at people’s greed. About the fact that they can’t get enough. Kapp reports on large groups systematically combing the forest. They would leave their full bags in the forest and take them out in the car in the evening. The forester suspects that porcini mushrooms in particular are being illegally sold to the catering trade in these quantities.
This makes me feel bile.
Hubert Kapp, forester at Schluchsee
Forester demands higher fine
One kilogram of mushrooms per person per day. Anyone who has more and is caught has to expect high fines. In Baden-Württemberg up to 2,500 euros. In extreme cases even more. But that doesn’t really seem to deter many collectors.
The penalties would have to be much higher.
Hubert Kapp, forester at Schluchsee
A particularly extreme case made headlines last week. Several collectors tried to smuggle 70 kilograms of porcini mushrooms from the Black Forest across the Swiss border in huge sacks. They were caught by customs officers and now have to pay a fine of 7,000 euros.
When asked about this, forester Kapp has to laugh: “Over 70 kilograms of porcini mushrooms, almost one and a half hundredweight. As heavy as I am. Unimaginable amount. The fact that there is a hefty fine – 100 euros per kilogram, that is too little and should be much more.”
Förster hopes for colder temperatures
During his daily trips through the forest, Hubert Kapp also caught a number of collectors who had significantly more mushrooms in their bags than permitted. He confronted her and reported her. Kapp no longer accepts excuses. Now the Schluchsee forester is hoping for colder temperatures and fewer mushrooms so that the forest and especially the animals can finally rest.
Broadcast on Wed, October 9, 2024, 7:30 p.m., SWR Aktuell Baden-Württemberg, SWR BW
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