Churchyard conservation

Churchyards are often valuable for wildlife as they have not been nearly so intensively managed as either farmland or gardens. They are also places where we can corporately work at our relationship with the rest of creation. They are helped in this by being places associated with death, the great leveller of all living beings ("Dust you are and to dust you shall return")

One of our team (Nigel Cooper) wrote "Wildlife in Church and Churchyard: plants animals and their management" £9.95 - visit Church House Publishing

A major new resource is developing at www.caringforgodsacre.co.uk/
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Biological Records Centre has a Community Officer to help local groups survey for wildlife and plants, and this includes on churchyards.
Contact: c/o The Wildlife Trust,
The Manor House
Broad Street
Greater Cambourne
Cambridge
CB3 6DH
Tel 01954 713570
There is also a habitat action plan for churchyards in Cambridgeshire

Cambridge Green Belt Project is keen to help people with the care of churchyards in its area

For parishes in Norfolk, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust has a churchyard conservation project. Please contact:
Andrina Walmsley
Norfolk Wildlife Trust
Bewick House
Thorpe Road, Norwich
NR1 1RY Tel: 01603 625540
Email: AndrinaW@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk
They have a help sheet at www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/protecting%20wildlife/factsheets/churchyards.html
As yet, the Wildlife Trust for Cambridge ( http://www.wildlifebcnp.org/ ) does not have a churchyard programme, but a number of other county wildlife trusts have helpful websites