Churchyards can be important havens for wildlife as well as people. They are often home to many species of birds and insects, wild flowers, and ancient trees. 

If you live near a churchyard, you could get involved with Churches Count on Nature, which encourages churchyard wildlife surveys between 3 and 11  June.

Churches Count on Nature is part of Love Your Burial Ground Week, which is open to anyone with a love of nature. Churches are being encouraged to connect with local schools, wildlife groups, and those who may not have visited before to discover their churchyards.

In the last two years, 900 counting events took place across churches in England and Wales, and over 27,000 wildlife records were submitted to Caring for God’s Acre.

The surveys increase awareness of the wildlife value of churchyards, and adds to the overall understanding of the importance of these habitats. It could even encourage some churchyards to be managed more sympathetically for wildlife.

You can find out how St Michael and All Angels, Lambourn, planned their event and involved their local primary school in this video.

To see what’s happening near you, visit the Churches Count on Nature events page. 

If you do take part in any of these activities, do let us know about it by emailing teamwilder@bbowt.org.uk!

BBOWT has been working in partnership the Diocese of Oxford to produce a Wilder Churches resource hub to help inspire anyone interested in managing churchyards with wildlife in mind.

If you are aware of any particularly wildlife rich churchyards, you can also propose them for addition on this map of Burial Grounds to Inspire. There must be some great ones in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire that are not yet shown! 

By taking one action for nature, you can make an impact and invite more wildlife back into our lives and help create a wilder future. Add your action to our  #teamWILDER map too and show how wild our three counties are.