Over the last year, Somerset Wildlife Trust and the Diocese of Bath and Wells have been working in partnership to support communities throughout Somerset to protect wildlife and biodiversity in their local churchyard or burial ground, and work together to find ways to increase the value of these special places for nature. The initiative has been extraordinarily popular, and the organisations are now inviting more communities to join in with the help of a new welcome event being held online on Tuesday 26 April.

Churchyards are often the oldest enclosed piece of land in a parish and many still support a rich variety of wildflowers and wildlife, having remained unscathed from the widespread loss of habitats seen in the wider countryside due to changing land management practices. Many churchyards support wildflower-rich grassland areas, ancient trees and other nooks and crannies that offer homes for invertebrates - food for birds, reptiles and mammals - and are home to many species of bat. Other churchyards, although ‘green’, support less biodiversity, but there is great potential to turn this around and help churchyards and other burial grounds become special places for wildlife as well as for people.

Last March, over 200 people attended the online launch of Wilder Churches, with communities across Somerset/the Diocese taking part in the initiative throughout the year. Free, online training sessions have guided communities to get to know more about their local churchyard or burial ground, who cares about it and how it is currently of value for wildlife, all vital first steps. Later sessions have focused on potential ways to provide new habitats for wildlife and conserve those already present, as well as how to involve and consult the community at every step.

A year on, a new dedicated  ‘welcome’ session is being run online in April to encourage more communities to get involved.  Pippa Rayner, Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Engaging with Nature Coordinator is coordinating the initiative. “If we’re to reverse the loss of biodiversity across the UK and within the county, we need to secure a strong, county-wide network of green spaces that provide homes for wildlife and corridors through which species can move and expand. With sensitive management, churchyards and other burial grounds can make a really important contribution to that network, especially as many still retain fragments of species-rich habitats that have been lost from the surrounding countryside. Local people are best placed to really get to know and understand their local churchyard or burial ground. The Wilder Churches training has been designed to support communities in this and empower them to take positive, evidence-based, effective action for wildlife in a way that also works for their community. “

Sara Emmett, Interim Diocesan Environment Officer explains, “We have been so delighted by the positive response from so many people across the Diocese to Wilder Churches. With the Diocese embracing a new environmental policy, it has been fantastic to work together with Somerset Wildlife Trust to support church leaders and communities to increase the value of churchyards and other church land for wildlife. By regularly getting together online to celebrate successes, share expertise and solve problems as they arise, we have collectively achieved so much more and we hope communities not already involved will come along to our dedicated welcome session this April to start their own Wilder Churches journey!”

Pippa concludes, “Churchyards are really special and unique places, so we have constantly encouraged everyone to use the ‘3 Cs’ of consideration, consultation and communication. It has been so inspiring to hear of people taking the time to discover the wildlife already finding a home in their local churchyard or burial ground. Some communities have discovered wildflower grassland areas that they didn’t know were there, that share a story of how land in their community looked in the past and that with sensitive management can provide vital habitat for wildlife for many years to come! Every churchyard or burial ground, and every community, will be different, so the options to help wildlife that work in one community, may not work in another, but there will always be something that can be done to help wildlife. To help nature recover, we need more people to take action for nature and we want to support them at each step along the way, so we really hope more communities will get involved with Wilder Churches this year.”

The ‘Wilder Churches - welcoming new communities to help wildlife in churchyards, other church land and burial grounds training session, is being held online Tuesday 26 April from 19.00-20.30. Everyone is welcome so for more information or to book a place visit:

https://www.somersetwildlife.org/events/wilder-churches

ENDS

For interviews and further information please contact Lucy Mannion on 01823 652414 or Lucy.Mannion@somersetwildlife.org

You can follow us on Twitter at SomersetWT or Facebook on @Somersetwildlifetrust

Photo: Caption

Images are attached for use with this news release.  They are granted on a one-time use basis, in association with this release and the photographer must be credited. More images available on request.

About Somerset Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust is a nature conservation charity. Its purpose is to restore and protect the populations of species across the county and the habitats they call home. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to nature, natural habitats and the ecosystems that support our life on earth.  Our aims are to help address both the ecological and climate crises and put nature back into people’s lives.

Nature reserves and protected sites on their own are not enough. In order to reverse the decline in species’ diversity and abundance, and create resilient landscapes and habitats for wildlife and for people that can adapt to climate change, we need to: 

• encourage and support landowners to manage their land positively for nature; create more space for nature;
• connect wildlife-rich spaces across the wider landscape to create a robust Nature Recovery Network for Somerset; and
• create a movement of people – at least 1 in 4 – that take action for nature’s recovery across Somerset as part of Team Wilder. 

This is at the core of our new 10-year strategy. Nationally the Wildlife Trusts are calling for at least 30% of land to be managed positively for nature by 2030. What we do in Somerset must contribute to that national ambition. You can read our full 10 year strategy, Wilder Somerset here.