Fear is running rampant in the forest

Record mushroom year: now the raiders are coming

Unfortunately, this year's record mushroom year is also attracting mushroom raiders to our forests.(Bild: Alois Litzlbauer)

Chanterelles, porcini mushrooms, birch mushrooms and king oyster mushrooms, as well as parasols, are sprouting like never before! As well as lucky mushroom hunters, our own search parties are plundering the local forests ...

Everything with moderation and purpose. Certain rules must be observed in order to collect the 'fruits of the forest' in harmony with the forest ecosystem. Then there is nothing wrong with foraging," says Konrad Mylius, President of the Main Association of Austrian Agriculture and Forestry Companies, conciliatory. However, his appeal is falling on deaf ears this year.

Ita Walser-Lazarini, mistress of the Wadlviertel estate, is picking parasols very carefully.(Bild: Imre Antal)

Because at the moment, the decade-long mushroom year (with countless sprouts) is tempting her to plunder. "Chanterelles and other edible tubers are being hauled away in sacks.

And we're not even talking about the gangs from the East or the troops from Italy, who are literally shaving off the forest floor of landowners for commercial and criminal reasons, but also about the hundreds of private foragers who are swarming out," describe Viennese environmental legend Dr. Gerhard Heilingbrunner, who has his roots in the Yspertal (Lower Austria), which is currently just as rich in porcini mushrooms, and ecological veteran Helmut Belanyecz.

It is particularly bad when foragers plunder entire forest areas, as is the case now. This leads to a lasting disruption of the valuable forest ecosystem.

Konrad Mylius, Präsident des Hauptverbandes der Land & Forstbetriebe Österreichs

They ask all "lucky mushroom pickers" to adhere to basic ecological rules: "Never pull them out, but always cut them off carefully, clean them roughly and leave the remains in the forest. This is the only way new fungal threads, the so-called mycelium, can form!" This secures the stocks for future generations.

"It's particularly bad when foragers plunder entire areas of forest, as they are doing now. This leads to lasting disruption of the valuable forest ecosystem. Parasol, but also poisonous companions, are part of the green fir and must not be eradicated," warns Mylius.

Facts and figures

• A maximum of two kilos of mushrooms may be taken per person per day between 7 am and 6 pm.
• Only take mushrooms that are 100 percent cooked - beware, risk of poisoning!

Protected status required for mushrooms
Incidentally, mushroom picking is not permitted everywhere. Forest owners can prohibit foraging in certain regions. There is a risk of severe penalties.

However, whether mushrooms, molds or yeasts: without them, there would be no life on earth as we know it. This is why Chile and the UK called for a legal protection status for mushrooms at the UN Biodiversity Conference COP16 in Colombia.