Foraging Plants

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FIN/25/003184/C

Version Date: 16/05/2025

The Performance Analysis Department have provided the following information.

All SC descriptions that may relate to this request (Deliberately pick/collect/cut/uproot/destroy a wild plant of a European protected species) are non-crimes, therefore Performance Analysis have carried out an OEL keyword search for the keywords listed below in order to obtain this data.

Returned occurrences have been reviewed for relevance.

Please provide the relevant information for the period between 1 April 2022 and the most recent date for which data is available. 

Please could you provide the following:

1. The number of reports made to your force about foraging or picking of plants. Please could you provide the following breakdown:

1

1. A yearly breakdown of the number of reports made about foraging or picking of plants.

The occurrence happened in 2024.

1. The approximate location (for example: name of the park or road) at which the foraging or picking of plants allegedly took place.

East Melbury

1. Whether the report of foraging or picking of plants led to a charge.

No charges.

1. The names of the offences under which these charges were made.

Not applicable but the occurrence was recorded under ‘theft’.

1. The number of these charges which proceeded to conviction.

Not applicable. Please note, Dorset Police do not hold conviction data, this is held by the courts.

If you need to carry out a key terms search to locate these records, please include the terms “foraged”, “foraging”, “wild food”, “forager”, “wild ingredients”. If you would document these cases in another way, please include these results as per the spirit of my request.