Walking around the garden it is nice to see such a fine display of snowdrops this year.
It won't be too much longer before springtime favourites like bluebells, daffodils and primroses are also in bloom in the gardens and countryside across the land.
Today, to coincide with the imminent arrival this floral spectacle, I give a quick summary of the legislation protecting wild plants in England and Wales.
Section 13(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence for any person to intentionally pick, uproot or destroy any wild plant listed in schedule 8 of the Act. This includes things like bluebells, lady's slipper orchids and fen violets.
It also makes it an offence for any person who is not an authorised person to pick, uproot or destroy any wild plant not listed in schedule 8. This includes things like snowdrops, cowslips and primroses.
The definition of an authorised person is given at section 27 of the Act, but includes the landowner, occupier or their representative, anyone authorised in writing by the relevant local authority or anyone authorised in writing by the Environment Agency (in England) or Natural Resources Wales (in Wales).
Subsection (2) makes it an offence for any person to sell, offer for sale, possess or transport any wild plant listed in schedule 8 of the Act, or part or derivative thereof, whether dead or alive.
It also makes it an offence for any person to publish or cause to be published any advertisement that conveys that they buy or sell, or intend to buy or sell, any of those things.
Subsection (3) states that a person shall not be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) by reason of any act made unlawful by that subsection if they show that the act was an incidental result of a lawful operation and could not reasonably have been avoided.
Subsection (4) states that for the purposes of subsection (2)(a) the plant in question shall be presumed to have been a wild plant unless the contrary is shown.
The maximum penalty on summary conviction for any of these offences is 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine.
Another consideration, which I shall briefly touch on, is that wild plants are considered property under section 4(3) of the Theft Act 1968 if they are picked or removed for a commercial purpose.
It therefore follows that a person picking or removing wild plants could, under certain circumstances, be committing theft (more information about theft in my article "Finders Keepers? A Brief Guide to Theft").
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