Ethical Foraging: A Guide!

With the Gathering of the Fairies event around the corner (it's Saturday, September 6), we're in the midst of a lot of prep! This annual event, our biggest children's activity of the year, has been going on for nearly two decades. Children and their caregivers are invited into the garden to participate in magical activities such as hearing fairy stories, creating a fairy wand and making other nature crafts. (Plus, there will be face painting and live music!)

We've posted a flyer asking our volunteers and friends for donations of found nature materials - because one of the little ones' most treasured activities is building fairy houses all around the Growing Center using all-natural plant materials: twigs, bark, pinecones, acorns, stones, seashells, leaves and moss are some examples. So we thought it would be helpful to talk a bit about how one might go about foraging for such items in the most ethical way possible.

We spoke with Claire O'Neill, President and Biodiversity & Climate Program Director at Earthwise Aware, an action-driven nature conservation non-profit engaged in citizen science research, biodiversity efforts and environmental leadership, who gave us some tips and guidelines on foraging for nature materials ethically.

Examples of some fairy houses built at the Growing Center by kids (and kids at heart) during the Gathering of the Fairies.

Informed Actions

Here are a few things to think about:

• We aren't the only ones! August/September is the time of year when wildlife starts collecting food items for the winter: acorns, cones, and spent flower heads, for instance. Although they don't look like food to us, they are indeed food for animals, such as squirrels and seed eaters in general. Acorn harvests change each year and depend on a lot of factors.

  Claire adds, "So thinking about who we might deprive of sustenance when we gather an acorn is important."

• Animals Recycle, Too! Claire says a gall (a solid mass that forms on the outer tissues of plants) that has an exit hole might serve, at this very time, another different purpose. "For example," she says, "It might now be the home of a spider guarding her eggs. This is a time when nature recycles."

• Check First, and Replace When You Can Take caution with turning over logs to find stuff to collect: This is also the time when some salamanders lay and guard their eggs on the undersides of fallen limbs and logs. Flipping a log is one thing - replacing the log in a way that does not crush what was revealed is another thing to think about. "Any form of stress on them can be detrimental at this time," says Claire.

• Can You Move it Back? If you can, don’t move something you aren’t sure you can put back!

Minimize Your Footprint

Just like with the rules of camping and hiking, like at our state and national parks, the seven principles of Leave No Trace are a good rule of thumb. Specifically, in the case of foraging for nature materials, collect in moderation, leave what you find for the most part, and respect wildlife. Fallen twigs and branches, a handful of river stones, or loose bark or pinecones on the ground are fine to collect in small amounts.

Think Globally, Act Locally

"In general, avoiding hoarding is key," says Claire. "Acknowledging that we are not the only ones collecting brings another perspective. It's not just me collecting, but many others are doing the same thing at this time of the year."

She adds, "There is scientific research I read a few years back about the impact of collecting shells that did lead to the erosion of a beach in Spain - crazy, right?! The point is that there are consequences of our actions, and what may seem like an innocent collection activity can 'accumulate' (impact) indeed."

Note About Collecting in Public Parks and on Public Lands

When collecting, please note that public lands and parks often have rules and laws regarding collecting or foraging for materials. A good rule of thumb would be to check on that before taking any materials - even something as small as an acorn or a piece of bark.

One example is the Middlesex Fells Reservation a DCR property. Per MA Regulation 302 CMR 12.04(21): No person may damage, disturb or remove any DCR property or resource, real, natural, personal, cultural or historic, except through hunting, fishing, or trapping where permitted and carried out in accordance with regulations issued by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, or other written authorization by the Department.

More information specifically about the Fells can be found at the Friends of the Fells website..

Leaving the Fairy Houses?

After a few weeks, we have a team go in and clean up the non-biodegradable items (rocks and seashells) but leave many of the other items for visiting elves/fairies to use.. Then they can be reused the following year. Even humans recycle nature materials!

"Some cultures in the great north, like Iceland, build elves' houses in their gardens and elves' villages in the countryside," says Claire. "Surely the "hidden people" use them!"

(Of course, now that Elfland is being rebuilt, it seems they have plenty of places to live!)

For more information about volunteering with Earthwise Aware, check out their website. Also note that the second Saturday of every month they offer a free training at the Growing Center called Introduction to Nature Monitoring in the City, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm. For more info or to register, visit their participatory science Eventbrite page.