What Goes Into Green or Woodland Cemetery Start Ups
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Woodland, Green or Natural Burial? They're different words for the same core values*
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If you are fortunate enough to already have a location, take some time to feel into the place.
Consider...
—What are the natural features that already exist?
—Is the land flat or hilly? Is the climate dry or rainy?
—What are the seasons and the soil like?
—Is the community supportive of your vision?
The land itself will have things to share about the design of your burial ground. How much do you intend to change what is already there? This rustic bench was once a mother tree standing at the edge of a field. The tree fell down and became a bench. The farmland was too far down the road to herd livestock for grazing, so it went fallow. Then the land found a new life as a burial ground.
Consider...
—What are the natural features that already exist?
—Is the land flat or hilly? Is the climate dry or rainy?
—What are the seasons and the soil like?
—Is the community supportive of your vision?
The land itself will have things to share about the design of your burial ground. How much do you intend to change what is already there? This rustic bench was once a mother tree standing at the edge of a field. The tree fell down and became a bench. The farmland was too far down the road to herd livestock for grazing, so it went fallow. Then the land found a new life as a burial ground.
This is not a one size fits all operation; not even one set of standards. Laws and zoning regulations vary. Land stewardship requires at least three focal lengths:
- Make an assessment of the condition the land is in now, the health of soil, vegetation, and surrounding elements, including water and air quality, as well as urban encroachment and development agendas.
- What is the land's history, how did it get to the condition it is in now? Has it been well stewarded, neglected, exploited? How has it been assessed, maybe even zoned, up until now? Are there environmental restrictions?
- How do you envision your natural burial ground 100 years or more into the future? Are you making conscious plans to reintroduce restorative indigenous species of all kinds, plan burial locations in harmony and congruence with the natural features and historical context?
- Have you planned ahead for the time when all useable burial space has been sold and the promise of protecting the land itself and those buried there "in perpetuity" will continue to be protected and supported by the plans you are making today?
The idea of land conservation merged with
simple natural burial techniques that are also better for the environment
simple natural burial techniques that are also better for the environment
Natural and Woodland Burial Ground Histories
Let's start with a little background. Back in the 1980's an English Horticulturalist named Ken West had an awakening. Read the story in Ken's own words here. His pioneering research and advocacy launched what has become a thriving "Woodland Burial" movement in the UK, resulting in over 300 small cemetery spaces in natural environments.
Around the same time in rural South Carolina, Billy Campbell began toying with the idea of using burial as part of his efforts at conserving and restoring land. It wasn't until 1997 that he and his wife Kimberley were able to open Ramsey Creek Preserve, a 78-acre natural area bordering the nearby creek, home to various species of rare plants and thriving animal habitat. The Campbells partnered with a major land trust in the state, Upstate Forever, to protect the land in perpetuity, starting the conservation burial movement and giving a boost to the concept of natural burial in the US.
In 2002, Joe Sehee visited the preserve where the two began to think about ways to protect the integrity of what they were calling green burial. Billy had written standards for various types of burial grounds that formed the basis for starting the Green Burial Council (aka GBC).
Around the same time in rural South Carolina, Billy Campbell began toying with the idea of using burial as part of his efforts at conserving and restoring land. It wasn't until 1997 that he and his wife Kimberley were able to open Ramsey Creek Preserve, a 78-acre natural area bordering the nearby creek, home to various species of rare plants and thriving animal habitat. The Campbells partnered with a major land trust in the state, Upstate Forever, to protect the land in perpetuity, starting the conservation burial movement and giving a boost to the concept of natural burial in the US.
In 2002, Joe Sehee visited the preserve where the two began to think about ways to protect the integrity of what they were calling green burial. Billy had written standards for various types of burial grounds that formed the basis for starting the Green Burial Council (aka GBC).
Green Burial Council Standards
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The Green Burial Council provides the gold standards for what qualifies for certification at three level. Not all cemetery spot for certification, but most follow the standards the GBC has developed as best practices. The comparison chart here details each in columns by type. The beige column indicates hybrid, the brown indicates natural, and the teal indicates conservation. For a detailed, downloadable pdf of the Green Burial Standards, follow this link:
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The GBC's Standards are described this way:
Hybrid
Hybrid
- Standard cemetery with a section that is natural
- Entire cemetery that buries naturally
- Natural cemetery on land protected by a land trust conservation easement or other instrument
Documenting the Landscape
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Whether you are reclaiming and hybridizing a neglected historic cemetery, designing and defining a new conservation burial ground on land that has been decimated by offenses such as clear-cutting or over-grazing, or protecting pristine land, carrying forth the sacred trust of perpetuating its natural state by introducing an additional layer of legally protected status, you will need to begin by establishing benchmarks that document the land's condition, from soil health to vegetation and wildlife. Include in your inventories all of the landscape's natural features you can identify.
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Restoring Neglected, Historic Cemeteries
Whatever possessed you to take on that old cemetery in the first place?
Adopting a neglected cemetery is one of the options for getting established, if you are simply looking for a location that is already designated as a burial ground.
Make sure this strategy really meets your needs! Curating an old cemetery requires a special set of skills including a large helping of flexibility. How complete are the burial records? Is there reliable documentation to determine where additional burials could take place? How does the surrounding community feel about this old relic? Can you mobilize volunteers and maybe a horticulture club or a bunch of birders to lend a hand?
Make sure this strategy really meets your needs! Curating an old cemetery requires a special set of skills including a large helping of flexibility. How complete are the burial records? Is there reliable documentation to determine where additional burials could take place? How does the surrounding community feel about this old relic? Can you mobilize volunteers and maybe a horticulture club or a bunch of birders to lend a hand?
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To Repair or Not to Repair?Old cemeteries can provide a wealth of local history. Archivists, genealogists and even art historians are among the treasure hunters who love to sleuth around dilapidated graveyards looking for hidden gems.
At some point, it becomes important to decide the future of old monuments: attempt to salvage, restore, preserve, or allow them to crumble back into the landscape? Even the legendary Paris cemetery, Pere Lachaise, grapples with the mixed community values, whether to allow nature to "re-naturalise" the landscape, or attempt to clean up and preserve the collapsing old relics. Should the policy to renew or rewild be made by the descendants of those buried there? Will the support of the community be influenced by the cemetery's condition? |
Values inform choices...
Do you leave the lichen?
What to do about that empty crypt?
Do you want to sleuth out its history?
Can you legally or ethically change this situation in any way?
What to do about that empty crypt?
Do you want to sleuth out its history?
Can you legally or ethically change this situation in any way?
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"I have been working with Holly Blue Hawkins on the Soquel Historic Cemetery committee for over a year. Holly has been very helpful in providing insight, guidance and enthusiasm for the difficult project to revitalize a neglected historic cemetery in Soquel, California." |