Decorating with natural materials such as moss, spruce and pine cones is part of Christmas. But before you head out to pick your ornaments, there are a few rules you need to know – or you could be breaking the law.
Therefore, you must not pick all the Christmas decorations from the forest
It is thanks to the right of common people that we are allowed to move freely in nature and pick berries and mushrooms. But the line between what you can and can’t do is very fine, so it’s important to check the rules.
– I have seen at some point that you have picked spruce rice, for example, and you are not allowed to do that according to the common law, says Peter Rydénthe forest ranger, to P4 Seven-way.
Although you are allowed to pick berries and mushrooms in the forest, you are not allowed to pick, for example, fir rice. This is because fir rice is not covered by the right of the public and instead belongs to landowners, writes the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency homepage.
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Peter Rydén tells P4 Sjuhärad about some things that are common to decorate with, but which you are not allowed to pick from the forest. It is as follows:
– It is the landowner’s property and it has a value, and then you can damage it in various ways so you must not touch it, says Rydén.
Spruce rice can be used for Christmas crafts. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT
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The penalty if you break the law
If you break the law, you may be fined.
This is what the law says The Riksdag:
“Anyone who unlawfully takes growing trees or grass or trees felled by the wind or stone, gravel, peat or other things that have not been processed in a forest or land shall be sentenced, if the crime, taking into account the value of the thing seized and other circumstances, is considered minor, for damage to fines. The same applies to those who take rice, branches, fists, bark, leaves, bast, acorns, nuts or resin from growing trees”
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