https://reasonstobecheerful.world/biodiversity-graveyards-halloween/
"They are in nearly every village, town and city across the UK, thousands of
church buildings peppering the landscape. But while many may no longer be in
regular use, the churchyards surrounding them – quiet, peaceful and often
ancient – amount to what Olivia Graham, the bishop of Reading, equates to “a
small national park.” The land beyond the church gate is some of the most
biodiverse in the UK because it has largely stayed untouched.
“A churchyard is a little snapshot of how the countryside used to be,”
says Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Pippa Rayner, who is working on Wilder Churches,
a new initiative with the diocese of Bath and Wells “to enhance churchyard
biodiversity across the county.”
“Very often in a highly industrialized rural landscape, the fields around
villages may be covered in agricultural chemicals. You often find that the
churchyard is the one place in the area where they haven’t been using
chemicals,” says Rayner. “The fact that they generally have been managed
differently to the rest of the countryside, and they have been looked after in
a different way, has enabled species to still be there,” she adds.
Wilder Churches is one of several schemes that have launched across the UK with
the aim of maximizing biodiversity in churchyards. David Curry leads the Living
Churchyards project in south-west England, a voluntary scheme that advises
local clerics on how to use the land surrounding their church for the benefit
of nature."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
