Photo image courtesy of the Forest Conservation Cemetery, Ashland, OR
What You Will Find Here |
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Goals, Commitments, Standards, and Best Practices
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Resources and Links to:
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Conservation Burial Goals and Commitments
Download the flyer by clicking on the image
The goals of conservation burial are myriad—to set aside intrinsically valuable land for nature's sake and our own, to restore land that has been subject to man's misuse to one of balance and abundance, to maximize opportunities to engage authentically with nature at a profound moment in the lives of those who have experienced loss—and the list goes on.
To say that natural burial is simply interment in the ground without toxic chemicals, precious wooden or metal caskets, and cement vaults is both accurate and simplistic at the same time.
Conservation burial, at its core, is about the creation and support of multidimensional social and ecological spaces that sustain us as they sustain the planet and all who dwell on it.
For those seeking to expand protected lands through conservation burial, leaving a legacy for future generations is a key motivator.
Equally important to those poised to receive the benefits of protected space is the promise of enhanced connection of human and natural communities.
Conservation cemeteries are a vehicle for transformative experiences that include direct participation before and during a funeral, and ongoing opportunities for engagement through life-affirming activities such as bird-watching, hiking, weddings, baptisms, family picnic days, community educational events, and much more.
What does conservation burial hope to achieve? Community. Connection. Sustainability. By design.
To say that natural burial is simply interment in the ground without toxic chemicals, precious wooden or metal caskets, and cement vaults is both accurate and simplistic at the same time.
Conservation burial, at its core, is about the creation and support of multidimensional social and ecological spaces that sustain us as they sustain the planet and all who dwell on it.
For those seeking to expand protected lands through conservation burial, leaving a legacy for future generations is a key motivator.
Equally important to those poised to receive the benefits of protected space is the promise of enhanced connection of human and natural communities.
Conservation cemeteries are a vehicle for transformative experiences that include direct participation before and during a funeral, and ongoing opportunities for engagement through life-affirming activities such as bird-watching, hiking, weddings, baptisms, family picnic days, community educational events, and much more.
What does conservation burial hope to achieve? Community. Connection. Sustainability. By design.
Conservation Burial Grounds:
- Believe that conservation burial will become the preferred choice for burial as we educate people about its environmental, psychological and economic benefits.
- Work within social and ecological spaces to engage people in community through a shared commitment to leaving an environmental legacy.
- Believe that natural burial is a viable strategy for conserving intrinsically valuable land and restoring depleted landscapes while improving ecological health and promoting sustainable climate change mitigation. (Read the Conservation Burial Alliance's full Mission Vision, Values and Purpose.)
- Comply with the Green Burial Council's Conservation Burial Ground certification standards. [See below}
- Seek to use burial as a conservation strategy that permanently ties individuals and families to the land through their shared story, encouraging active conservation funding support.
- Rely on and employ accepted conservation land management practices as we steward the land.
- Protect the rights of families to know their loved ones will be undisturbed by operating as a licensed cemetery.
Photo courtesy of Larkspur Conservation at Taylor Hollow, Nashville, TN
Our Commitment to Lowering Carbon Footprint
There is more than enough evidence to support concern about contemporary lawn and vault cemetery contributions to climate change given the tons of concrete, steel, copper, and other indestructible materials buried in American cemeteries over the past hundred years. (See the Green Burial Council's Disposition Statistics.) Cremation rates are rising dramatically, and the negative effects of the process are mounting. And while inventors are crunching their brains to design better mousetraps, the fact is that nothing improves on Mother Nature. Natural burial has been working since the beginning of time, and we believe it is one answer to the looming crisis that faces us all.
Natural burial eliminates the production, transportation, and interment in the ground of both raw and finished materials associated with burial: vaults, caskets, embalming fluids. Caskets alone have enormous carbon footprints, even the biodegradable ones that travel from half way across the world. By sourcing burial containers made by local craftspeople and artists who likewise source their materials nearby, not only is there immediate and close-to-home economic benefit, but there is severe reduction in activity that compounds the toll on the environment.
Our bodies are poised to serve if we stop preventing them from doing so and instead allow natural processes to benefit the soil. Best estimates say that a natural burial releases 25 pounds of carbon (as opposed to 250 pounds per cremation, and even more for vault burial using a metal or rainforest wood casket). Natural burial works in exactly the reverse of cremation: critical probiotic elements are sequestered instead, including an estimated 25 million kg of carbon, 4.3 million kg of nitrogen, 1.3 million kg of phosphorus, and 540,000 kg of potassium. (See What Land Trusts Need to Know About Cremation for more statistical details. Statistics courtesy of Bob Jenkins and David O. Carter of Let Your Love Grow.) Natural burial not only prevents emitting current levels of greenhouse gasses, it contributes to the environment in real ways, doing its part in combatting climate change.
For a comprehensive guide to the science behind cremation processes, including natural organic reduction and alkaline hydrolysis, and their potential impact on soil and water, view this brief Cremation Curious video.
There is more than enough evidence to support concern about contemporary lawn and vault cemetery contributions to climate change given the tons of concrete, steel, copper, and other indestructible materials buried in American cemeteries over the past hundred years. (See the Green Burial Council's Disposition Statistics.) Cremation rates are rising dramatically, and the negative effects of the process are mounting. And while inventors are crunching their brains to design better mousetraps, the fact is that nothing improves on Mother Nature. Natural burial has been working since the beginning of time, and we believe it is one answer to the looming crisis that faces us all.
Natural burial eliminates the production, transportation, and interment in the ground of both raw and finished materials associated with burial: vaults, caskets, embalming fluids. Caskets alone have enormous carbon footprints, even the biodegradable ones that travel from half way across the world. By sourcing burial containers made by local craftspeople and artists who likewise source their materials nearby, not only is there immediate and close-to-home economic benefit, but there is severe reduction in activity that compounds the toll on the environment.
Our bodies are poised to serve if we stop preventing them from doing so and instead allow natural processes to benefit the soil. Best estimates say that a natural burial releases 25 pounds of carbon (as opposed to 250 pounds per cremation, and even more for vault burial using a metal or rainforest wood casket). Natural burial works in exactly the reverse of cremation: critical probiotic elements are sequestered instead, including an estimated 25 million kg of carbon, 4.3 million kg of nitrogen, 1.3 million kg of phosphorus, and 540,000 kg of potassium. (See What Land Trusts Need to Know About Cremation for more statistical details. Statistics courtesy of Bob Jenkins and David O. Carter of Let Your Love Grow.) Natural burial not only prevents emitting current levels of greenhouse gasses, it contributes to the environment in real ways, doing its part in combatting climate change.
For a comprehensive guide to the science behind cremation processes, including natural organic reduction and alkaline hydrolysis, and their potential impact on soil and water, view this brief Cremation Curious video.
Photo courtesy of Bluestem Conservation Cemetery, Cedar Grove, NC
Our Commitment to Social Change and Environmental Justice
Death may be the great equalizer, but disposition choice is not always based on equal opportunity. Funerals and burials have mirrored the racial and socio-economic imbalance of our history. Making after-death options available and truly accessible to all, physically and economically, is a major part of our mission to serve.
The time is now to level the field by providing accessible and appropriate cemeteries and burials that are inclusive and creatively funded. As we break through the wall of change in so many regards, we recognize that it is our responsibility to meet the needs and desires of those choosing this exit strategy and support them with reasonable pricing the reflects our collective values. And those values center around one resonating goal: to nurture the earth by burying our bodies on protected land that will be cared for in perpetuity, regardless of race, economic status, sexual orientation, or any other qualifier or description.
Death may be the great equalizer, but disposition choice is not always based on equal opportunity. Funerals and burials have mirrored the racial and socio-economic imbalance of our history. Making after-death options available and truly accessible to all, physically and economically, is a major part of our mission to serve.
The time is now to level the field by providing accessible and appropriate cemeteries and burials that are inclusive and creatively funded. As we break through the wall of change in so many regards, we recognize that it is our responsibility to meet the needs and desires of those choosing this exit strategy and support them with reasonable pricing the reflects our collective values. And those values center around one resonating goal: to nurture the earth by burying our bodies on protected land that will be cared for in perpetuity, regardless of race, economic status, sexual orientation, or any other qualifier or description.
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—Lee Webster, written for the Conservation Burial Alliance
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Land Trusts, Landowners, and Cemeteries: Finding Common Ground
Not all land trust entities are prepared to take on the added responsibilities and liabilities associated with conducting burials on protected land. In an effort to help start that conversation, we have identified some areas of concern that may conversely become areas of opportunity. Landowners, conservationists, and cemeterians are all advised to assess the following with an eye to understanding the many perspectives others have on these issues to foster a deeper, more thoughtful exchange of ideas and practicalities in pursuit of meaningful, sustainable conservation burial partnerships.
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Mission Creep
Risk/Liability
Land Trust Planning and Management Capacity
Ramsey Creek Preserve, Westminster, SC
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Conservation/Ecology
Cost
Revenue
—Lee Webster, written for the Conservation Burial Alliance
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Information designed specifically for landowners and land trusts who are considering including natural burial in their easement:
A Primer on the Relationships with Conservation Organizations and Drafting of Conservation Easements |
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Questions to Ask When Considering Partnership with Conservation Burial
Infographic by Lee Webster, NH Funeral Resources, Education & Advocacy
CONSERVATION
COMMUNITY
- Does a conservation burial project fit with your organization’s mission?
- What are your organization’s goals for a conservation burial project?
- Would a conservation burial project contain conservation values you seek to advance?
- What resources does your organization have available for a conservation burial project? (Consider resources such as: land, expertise, financials, willing community)
- What barriers do you foresee in considering a conservation burial project?
- Given your organization’s objectives and obligations would a conservation burial project be a priority?
- Can a conservation burial project advance your conservation or organizational strategies?
- Does your organization have target conservation priorities or an existing conservation property that a conservation burial could benefit?
COMMUNITY
- Are there any green, natural or conservation burial grounds within your service area?
- Are there any natural burial grounds within 50 miles of your service area?
- Has your organization been asked about green burial by its members/community members?
- Have you identified community goals that could be supported by a conservation burial project?
- Can a conservation burial project further connect your organization to your community?
- Do you have business, religious or organizational partnerships that would benefit the project?
- Who in your community would be supporters and advocates for a conservation burial project?
- Are those partners ready?
STRUCTURE
- What is your organization’s resource capacity for developing a conservation burial project?
- Will you need to give up an organizational priority in order to participate in a project?
- Does your organization have the time to develop a conservation burial project?
- Have you researched your state’s cemetery laws, local regulations, zoning?
- What is the market for potential clients for the conservation burial ground
- Does your organization have a conservation burial champion? Is it you??
- Is your organization willing to participate in a conservation burial project?
- Will your organization lead or partner on the project?
—THE LANDMATTERS Conservation Burial Assessment Tool for RALLY 2019; Heidi Hannapel and Jeff Masten
Considering Landowner Burial Rights
Photo courtesy of Karin Beij
Possible questions to ask when negotiating easements that include burial with landowners:
- Are there any known non-Native American burial grounds on the property?
- Is there interest in future burials on the property?
- What locations might be considered based on landowner preference?
- What locations might be eligible based on EiAs, inventory and survey data?
- How many burials is the landowners considering?
- What memorialization is the landowner considering?
- Who is responsible for funding and conducting inventories, surveys for this area?
- Who is responsible for carrying out restoration initiatives?
- What monitoring of the specified area may be necessary? What criteria?
- Who will be responsible for that? What is the timeframe and protocol?
- What temporary or permanent changes to the land may be required to accommodate burials?
- What assurances does the land trust need in order to incorporate burial rights in the easement?
- What burial materials will be allowed?
- How will burial day traffic be managed? Future traffic to the site?
- Will the land trust require a waiver to disallow non-State ordered disinterments?
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Green Burial Council Conservation Burial Standards and Practices
Conservation burial cemeteries seeking certification from the Green Burial Council (the only independent, third-party certifying entity in the world) must meet rigid standards of performance to qualify for the highest level available. Several members of the Conservation Burial Alliance were instrumental in developing the original standards in 2005, and others in updating them again in 2019, along with land trust and green burial experts. These standards are essential in protecting consumers from greenwashing and fraudulent schemes, and support cemetery operators who provide this vital service to individuals and their broader communities, now and into the future. (For more information on certification, go to Why GBC Certification Matters.)
Download Standards.
Download Standards.
Memorial Ecosystems Conservation Burial Best Practices
Dr. Billy Campbell of the Ramsey Creek Preserve, founded in 1997 in Westminster, SC, is the undisputed visionary of conservation burial in the US. Go to Memorial Ecosystems for his full descriptions of Conservation Burial Best Practices.
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Existing Conservation Burial Grounds and Land Trust Partners
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Baldwin Hill Conservation Cemetery
Winthrop, ME 04364 207-377-2848 [email protected] Jean-Luc Theriault and Tyler Keniston, Operations Managers Land Trust Partner: Kennebec Land Trust Total associated land protected: 90 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 10 acres Bluestem Conservation Cemetery Cedar Grove, NC 27231 919-451-9236 [email protected] Heidi Hannapel and Jeff Masten, Co-directors Land Trust Partners: Eno River Association and Triangle Land Conservancy Total associated land protected: 87 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 50 acres Carolina Memorial Sanctuary Mills River, NC 28759 828-782-7283 [email protected] Caroline Yongue, Founder/Director Land Trust Partner: Conserving Carolina Easement holder: Conserving Carolina Total associated land protected: 11.36 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 8 acres Foxfield Preserve Wilmot, OH 44689 330-359-5235 [email protected] Hannah Mann, Foxfield Preserve Manager Land Trust Partner: The Wilderness Center Easement holder: The Wilderness Center Total associated land protected: 43+600 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 27 acres Heartwood Preserve Trinity, FL 34655 727-376-5111 [email protected] Laura Starkey, Executive Director Land Trust Partner: In negotiations Total associated land protected: 41 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 30 acres that border the 18,000 acre Starkey Wilderness Preserve Kokosing Nature Preserve Gambier, OH 43022 740-427-5040 [email protected] Amy Henricksen, Preserve Steward Land Trust Partner: Philander Chase Conservancy of Kenyon College Total associated land protected: 5,600 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 23 acres |
Larkspur Conservation at Taylor Hollow
Nashville, TN 37212 615-854-0010 [email protected] John Christian Phifer, Executive Director David Ponoroff, Assistant Director Land Trust Partner: The Nature Conservancy Total associated land protected: 605 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 155 acres Panorama Natural Burial Cemetery Earlysville, VA 22936 434-424-1103 [email protected] Stephanie Bonney, Cemetery Manager Chris Murphy, Owner Land Trust Partner: Panorama Farms Total associated land protected: 837 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 20+ acres Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery Gainesville, FL 32641 352-317-7307 info@prairiecreek Freddie Johnson, Executive Director Carlos Gonzales, Cemetery Manager Land Trust Partner: Alachua Conservation Trust Total associated land protected: 93 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 30 acres Ramsey Creek Preserve Westminster, SC 29693 864-324-2647 [email protected] Billy and Kimberley Campbell, Co-founders and Co-directors Land Trust Partner: Upstate Forever Total associated land protected: 78 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 75 acres White Eagle Memorial Preserve Cemetery Goldendale, WA 98620 206-383-3285 [email protected] Jodie Buller, Cemetery Manager Land Trust Partner: Sacred Earth Foundation Total associated land protected: 1138 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 20 acres Higher Ground Conservation Cemetery Williamsville, VT 05362 802-258-8598 [email protected] Michael Mayer, Director and Founder Land Trust Partner: Vermont Land Trust and The Manitou Project Total associated land protected: 223 acres Total area dedicated to burial: 5 acres |
Courtesy of the Conservation Burial Alliance
Resources and Links
Downloadable Conservation Burial Alliance materials:
Find natural and conservation cemeteries:
Full list of Green Burial Cemeteries in the US and Canada
List of cemeteries certified by the Green Burial Council
List of cemeteries certified by the Green Burial Council
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To view and read books, articles, podcasts, interviews, videos:
NH Funeral Resources Articles, Interviews, Podcasts, Interviews
Green Burial Council Books, Blogs, Articles, Videos Conservation Burial Alliance Books, Videos, Articles Green Burial Council Publications and How-tos Writings by Lee Webster on End of Life; Home Funeral; Green, Home, and Conservation Burial Dying Green The Natural Burial Experience Environmental Justice in the Natural Burial Cemetery Deeply Rooted |
Watch Deeply Rooted, a CBA video introducing conservation burial grounds around the US
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Conservation Burial Alliance Recorded Webinars:
Case Study: Casper Creek Natural Cemetery and Jo Daviess Trust Foundation Financial Series Part 1: What/Why/How Of Financial Sustainability Financial Series Part 2: Exploring our Financial Obligations Financial Series Part 3: Investments for Growing Ways to Engage Beyond Burial Becoming the Heart of a Community CBA Webinars |
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Courses available through Redesigning the End.com:
Green Burial MasterClass 12-week self-directed, online intensive course in green and conservation burial operations that prepares students for Certification from the Green Burial Council Opportunities in Green Burial
Free introductory video |
Photo courtesy of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, Gainesville, FL
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Conservation Land Trusts, Memorial Forests, and Scattering Remains
To better understand natural organic reduction remains, alkaline hydrolysis effluent disposal, and flame cremated remains scattering in memorial forests and their potential impact on conservation efforts
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Learn about cremation, memorial forests, and what conservation land trusts need to know about them
What Conservation Land Trusts Need to Know About Cremated Remains Scattering (Click on title to open or download here) The Differences Between Conservation Cemeteries and Memorial Forests Questions to Ask Before Agreeing to Partner with Memorial Forests Learn More About the Cremation Process and its Environmental Impact Learn about cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, and natural organic reduction Cremation Curious A brief video about cremation processes, including flame cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, and natural organic reduction (human composting). A must-watch for anyone considering the environmental implications involved in disposal of secondary materials after incineration, dissolving, or composting. Learn about best practices for utilizing compost in restoration EPA Compost Use in Forest Land Restoration |
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Nuts and Bolts of Natural Burial
Changing Landscapes: Exploring the growth of ethical, compassionate, and environmentally sustainable green funeral service
A collection of essays by top innovators in the field, with a foreword and several chapters by editor and author Lee Webster, developed for use in the only mortuary school class on green funeral practices.
Excerpts from Changing Landscapes for Download:
On the Way to the Green Burial Cemetery: What Families Need to Know
Opening, Closing, and Maintenance of a Green Burial Grave
Start-Up Tips for Green Burial Cemetery Operators
A collection of essays by top innovators in the field, with a foreword and several chapters by editor and author Lee Webster, developed for use in the only mortuary school class on green funeral practices.
Excerpts from Changing Landscapes for Download:
On the Way to the Green Burial Cemetery: What Families Need to Know
Opening, Closing, and Maintenance of a Green Burial Grave
Start-Up Tips for Green Burial Cemetery Operators
New Hampshire Burial and Cemetery Law
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TITLE XXVI
CEMETERIES; BURIALS; DEAD BODIES CHAPTER 289: CEMETERIES https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XXVI/289/289-mrg.htm TITLE XXVI
CEMETERIES; BURIALS; DEAD BODIESCHAPTER 290: BURIALS AND DISINTERMENTS https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/xxvi/290/290-mrg.htm |
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Photo images by Lee Webster and William R. Crangle
All rights reserved © FuneralPartnership.org