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Removing Plants from the Country Side


Quillan

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Never given this much thought before as its the first time it's happened.

A guest has returned with carrier bags full of plants he has removed whilst on a walk in the mountains, is this legal in France? More importantly he has placed them in my garden till he leaves, do I have a problem? I seem to vaguely remember that there are laws about this in the UK but I don't have a clue about France.

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Hi,

It's disappointing that a guest would come to a beautiful place and remove part of what makes it beautiful in the first place; this is an opportunity to educate the person concerned - advise them to take away only good memories and leave a few for those who come next time. We have noticed Cowslips disappearing from around the village with visitors picking armfulls of flowers, thus preventing them seeding. In just a few years they have retreated from the village to nearly a mile away.

The legality or otherwise of what your guest has done depends partly on the plant type and partly on from where it has been removed. You cannot remove plants from private land or from a national park, for instance and some of the more endangered plants are protected by international law. You are not responcible for the acts of your selfish  guests but as a tourism professional you should do all in your power to prevent such actions. Not easy, I know.

Colin

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[quote user="Quillan"]

A guest has returned with carrier bags full of plants he has removed whilst on a walk in the mountains, is this legal in France? More importantly he has placed them in my garden till he leaves, do I have a problem? I seem to vaguely remember that there are laws about this in the UK but I don't have a clue about France.

[/quote]

 

What would you do if he returned with carrier bags full of money he removed when on a walk through the village, and placed them in your safe?

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I had a further chat with the (French) chap and apparently he is in to Bonsai trees and these are small seedlings that he is going to make, or grow, in to Bonsai trees. As to where exactly he got them I do not know, when asked he pointed in a particular direction and said from the forest. I do know that we live in a World Heritage area (of outstanding beauty) and further up is the Languedoc National Park but it's difficult without knowing exactly where and he appears to not know exactly himself.
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[quote user="nomoss"]

What would you do if he returned with carrier bags full of money he removed when on a walk through the village, and placed them in your safe?

[/quote]

When he came back I'd say 'Money? What money?'  [:P]

Seriously though, if it's not illeagal to remove plants it should be

I was always brought up to 'Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos'

 

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