Collecting forest fruits, mushrooms and herbs in RS: permits and fees

The rulebook covers forest fruits, mushrooms, medicinal and aromatic herbs, snails and other non-timber forest products in forests and forest land owned by the state (Republika Srpska) and managed by the public company "Šume Republike Srpske". It applies to residents who pick for themselves and to companies and sole traders who collect for sale.

In short

• Individuals may collect non-timber forest products for family needs, up to 2 kg per day (the 2020 rulebook set 1 kg; amendments published on 13 May 2021 raised it to 2 kg).
• Collecting for sale is for registered companies and sole traders with a one-year permit issued by the forest user after a public competition.
• A commercial collector pays a fee of 5% of the raw-material sale price on the domestic market.
• Some species may not be collected (Annex 3): yellow gentian, arnica, pheasant's eye, green-winged orchid, bearberry, noble crayfish and others.
• Forest products found in trade without the required dispatch document may be confiscated.

Who it applies to

• Residents: collecting for the family's own needs, no permit, within the daily limit.
• Commercial collectors: companies and sole traders registered for this activity, where the forest user does not do the collecting itself.
• Hired pickers: must carry an ID card and have collector training.
• Restaurants and guesthouses that buy wild products: the rulebook regulates collectors, not buyers, so they need no permit under it. Practical advice, not a legal duty: buy only from permit holders and ask for the dispatch document.

What to do

1. For your own use: stay within the daily amount and do not pick banned species. The guidelines in Annex 1 (good practice, not an obligation for residents) recommend cutting the mushroom fruiting body with a knife, without damaging the mycelium.
2. For sale: register the activity, watch for the public competition of "Šume Republike Srpske" for the forest-management area where you want to collect, and apply. The public competition of 27 January 2026, issued under the rulebook (Službeni glasnik RS 116/20 and 43/21), asked for proof of registration, certificates from the tax administration and the indirect taxation authority (not older than three months), areas and planned species and quantities for 2026, the list of collectors with the 2026 training record, the 2025 annual report from previous permit holders, and a valid organic certificate or a statement that the applicant does not hold one. Check the terms of the current competition.
3. Issue each hired picker an ID card (company name, collector number, name, area, signature and stamp) and give the forest user a list of collectors with proof of training.
4. Before each day in the forest, notify the forest user's local unit in writing of entry and exit times and the list of collectors.
5. Obtain the required dispatch document from the forest user before putting products on the market. The 2021 amendments introduced an "otpremni iskaz" issued by the public company, so check the exact form with Šume Republike Srpske.
6. Keep purchase pads (collector name and address, area, product, quantity, price, signatures) and file an annual report on collected quantities by 31 December.

Deadlines and amounts

• The permit lasts one year.
• Fee of 5% of the raw-material sale price, paid on receipt of the forest user's invoice, by the 5th of the month for the previous month. The price list is set by the forest user according to supply and demand.
• Annual report: by 31 December of the current year.
• Edible snail (Helix pomatia): collecting banned from 1 January to 30 June.

Banned species

The provisional list in Annex 3 includes yellow gentian, green-winged orchid, Iceland moss, arnica, pheasant's eye, bearberry, blessed thistle, round-leaved sundew, Bosnian iris, edelweiss, the mushrooms Hygrophorus queletii and Sparassis crispa, the noble crayfish, and the tree and shrub species of Article 45 of the Law on Forests (for example yew, holly, olive). Common fruits such as blackberry, raspberry, bilberry, rosehip, cornelian cherry and boletes are not banned and appear on the list of species for commercial collection (Annex 4). The guidelines in Annex 1 also recommend leaving part of each plant for regeneration (for example 20% of plants, 30% of flowers and seeds) and not picking very young mushroom fruiting bodies.

Note

This text is based on the rulebook as published in Službeni glasnik RS 116/20 and the gazette notice of the amendments in Službeni glasnik RS 43/21 (2 kg daily limit, dispatch document). The wording of other provisions after the amendments may differ from what is described here. The Law on Forests is cited in the version named in the 2020 rulebook. For collecting on private land, and for the specific forest unit in East Herzegovina, check with Šume Republike Srpske.

Where to go

• JPŠ "Šume Republike Srpske" a.d. Sokolac: Romanijska 1/3, Sokolac, tel. 057 405 303, uprava@sumers.org. Banja Luka: Trg Republike Srpske 8/11, tel. 051 247 200. Hotline for illegal activity: 080 05 01 02. For Trebinje and East Herzegovina, ask this office which local unit is responsible.

Laws and sources

• Pravilnik o uslovima korišćenja i načinu sakupljanja ostalih šumskih proizvoda (Rulebook on conditions of use and collection of other forest products, Službeni glasnik RS 116/20)
• Gazette notice, Službeni glasnik RS 116/20 (24 November 2020)
• Gazette notice, Službeni glasnik RS 43/21 (13 May 2021), amendments to the rulebook
• Zakon o šumama (Law on Forests, Službeni glasnik RS 75/08, 60/13 and 70/20), Article 77.