Laws from Belgium

Belgium Bans Wildflower Picking in Nature Reserves — With Serious Fines

In Belgium, picking wildflowers or any native plant material inside a nature reserve is genuinely prohibited — but by three separate regional laws, not one national one. The €5,000 fine that circulates with the claim is not the figure in any of them: Wallonia treats a breach as a third-category environmental offence punishable by €100 to €100,000, Flanders punishes it through Title XVI of its 1995 environmental policy decree at €100 to €250,000, and Brussels-Capital applies its Code de l'inspection at €50 to €100,000, or an administrative fine of €50 to €62,500.