Counting wildlife

Churchyards and cemeteries will be celebrating their wildlife in a week-long event this summer.

From wildflowers to insects, birds and mammals, all creatures great and small have found a haven in the UK’s burial grounds for centuries as the land has been largely undisturbed.

During Love Your Burial Ground Week and Churches Count on Nature everyone is invited to explore these special places and help survey what they find.

The week, which takes place June 8-16, is organised by Caring for God’s Acre and is supported by the Church in Wales, the Church of England and A Rocha UK.

Events taking place range from biodiversity nature counts in churchyards, to memorial recording and tours in urban cemeteries. People can join in recording the wildlife they find using the iNaturalist app.

Harriet Carty, Director of Caring for God’s Acre explains how participating can lead to real change:

"Over the past three years, 1,300 events have taken place, involving more than 24,500 participants and resulting in 37,355 wildlife records being submitted, prompting tangible improvements.

Communities have taken decisive action, installing boxes for visiting swifts, placing boxes in hedgerows where dormice have been recorded, and adjusting cutting regimes to allow wildflowers to flourish.”

To find out how to take part and a map of events and activities visit
https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/get-involved/view-events/

More about the week:
https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/love-your-burial-ground-week-national-cemeteries-week-and-churches-count-on-nature/