Landscape stewardship and hunting, angling and gathering wild products

Gathering products from the wild is common practice throughout the European Union (EU). Based on a review of data and literature on gathering and consuming wild plants, mushrooms, game, and fish in the EU, we inventoried consumed wild species and mapped species richness of common wild food species. We identified motives for wild food gathering and consumption and mapped the importance of wild food gathering and consumption throughout the EU. A wide variety of game (38 species), mushrooms (27 species) and plants (81 species) is collected and consumed throughout the EU. Income, age, gender, possibilities for collecting, and cultural factors explain the importance of wild food. Although the role in food supply and income provision is limited, at least 100 million EU citizens consume wild food. Local wild food species are essential components of traditional dishes and as such are a connection between people and the diverse species that make up the cultural landscapes they live in. Also, the act of gathering wild food enhances awareness of the landscape. Through gathering wild food, people learn about nature’s functioning and experience nature. The benefits that wild food gathering provide trigger people to actively participate in landscape stewardship.