Illegal moss harvesting spreads to Wales

 While choosing a summer hanging basket or picking out a wreath at your local garden centre, have you ever wondered where the flowers and mosses came from? Has it ever occurred to you that what you are buying could be illegal?

The Countryside Council For Wales and Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Cymru today warned Sphagnum and other mosses are being illegally harvested across Wales.

Large quantities of the moss is stolen from the wild and sold to garden centres to decorate hanging baskets and wreaths. It is a growing problem and many incidents occur within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Gill Bilsborough, Senior Species Protection Officer for the Countryside Council For Wales, said: “There is concern that commercial pickers are plundering species, such as Sphagnum moss, which forms a vital protective layer for peat bogs, in large quantities. We would like to encourage members of the public buying hanging baskets to be aware that they could be buying products, which have been taken illegally or are damaging the environment and to ask questions about the source of the plants.”

In some cases perpetrators are part of an organised network of illegal trading and can earn substantial profits by supplying garden centres with a variety of plants, including threatened species. The problem is not confined to Wales – in 2003 criminal gangs were linked to the £34,000 worth of damage caused by Sphagnum moss gathering in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Sgt Ian Guildford, a Police Wildlife and Environmental Crime Officer seconded to work with the Countryside Council for Wales said: “Garden centres should be aware that they may be sourcing their hanging baskets and other wild plants from illegal sources. We want them to check their suppliers more rigorously and report any suspicious cases to the police.”

Sgt Guildford added: “It is a crime to uproot protected wild plants and to take any plant without the permission of the landowner. We need landowners and members of the public to report this type of activity. We would urge them to be more vigilant and suspicious of plant theft, particularly in the evenings and at weekends.”

Britain’s wild plants are under threat from illegal collection, but also competition from introduced, invasive species, habitat loss and climate change. A PAW leaflet entitled ‘Wild Plants and the Law’ highlights the problem of plant crime, which particularly affects native bluebells, snowdrops, primrose and mosses.

For more information about illegal moss collection please contact the Countryside Council For Wales’ enquiry service on 0845 1306229 or e-mail enquiries@ccw.gov.uk.