Charity warns about damage caused by over-foraging fungi

Using ingredients from local areas is very fashionable on social media at the moment.

John Dobson, from the Refectory restaurant near Ugborough, said he thought there were other factors too.

He said: “The rising cost of ingredients; they’re getting really, really expensive, so I think that could be encouraging people to go out and source things from other places. There is also a lack of education about the impact.”

Dobson added he made sure to forage responsibly, only taking a third of what he found, and doing so with any landowner’s permission.

Middleton said foraging was a great way to connect with nature, but he wanted to encourage people to enjoy woodlands without taking any of it home with them too.

He said: “We’ve gone a long way from Victorian times in terms of taking everything we see and pinning it and netting it.

“Now we are in a technological age. We can just use our phones, take great pictures; we can look without touching – particularly in a protected place.”

Penzance-based forager, wild food guide and founder of Wild Walks South West Rachel Lambert said: “It’s always an issue.

“It’s one of the fundamental rules, guidelines of foraging, is to consider who else is foraging in the area, and that includes all the other non-human beings – the wildlife in the area.”

She said people should only take what they needed and only select things which were abundant.

She added foraging “takes time” and people should think about their impact on nature.

Follow BBC Cornwall on X, external, Facebook, external and Instagram, external. Follow BBC Devon on X, external, Facebook, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk, external.