Nature conservation; plants; authorization for the commercial removal, treatment or processing of wild plants

Anyone wishing to collect wild plants or parts thereof for trade or commercial purposes (e.g. wildflowers, blueberries, moss, ferns, lichens, etc.) requires permission from the owner as well as a permit from the lower nature conservation authority. This is to prevent the overuse of such wild plants. The permit can be subject to conditions, e.g. to protect the wild plants from a reduction or eradication that would endanger the species. If the conditions are not sufficient for protection, the removal must be prohibited.

The permit specifies which plant species, which parts, which quantities and where they may be collected.

The collector must carry the permit with them when collecting and hand it over to the police or regulatory authorities for inspection on request.

• Plants within the meaning of the Federal Nature Conservation Act also include
• wild plants, plants obtained by artificial propagation and dead plants of wild species,
• seeds, fruits or other developmental forms of plants of wild species,
• readily recognizable parts of plants of wild species and
• readily recognizable products obtained from plants of wild species.

Lichens and fungi are also considered plants within the meaning of this law.

The written application must specify which plant species, which parts or products, which quantities and at which locations (useful: map sections) they are to be collected. Permission is granted if the population of the species concerned is not endangered at the place of collection and the ecosystem is not significantly impaired. When deciding on collections for the purpose of regional seed production, the beneficial effects on the objectives of nature conservation and landscape management must be taken into account. The nature conservation authority checks the completeness of the documents (see under deadlines).

Official acts under nature conservation law are generally subject to a charge. The current administrative cost regulations do not provide for a separate cost rate for this; it is advisable to ask the nature conservation authorities.

• § Section 39 (4) of the Nature Conservation and Landscape Management Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz - BNatSchG)
• § Section 7 (2) no. 2 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act
• § Section 2 (1) of the Hessian Implementation Act to the Federal Nature Conservation Act (HAGBNatSchG)
• § Section 3 (2) sentences 1 and 2 HAGBNatSchG
• § Section 42a of the Hessian Administrative Procedure Act
  

The nature conservation authority examines the application documents and informs the applicant within one month of receipt of the application whether the documents are complete or what further information it requires to fully assess the facts of the case.

If a decision is not made on an application for approval within a period of one month, it shall be deemed to have been granted if the application is sufficiently specific. The period begins upon receipt of the complete documents. It may be reasonably extended once if this is justified due to the difficulty of the matter. The extension of the deadline must be justified and communicated in good time. Upon request, the person who should have been notified of the administrative act must be given written confirmation of the occurrence of the fictitious approval.