Graveyards are quiet, peaceful places. Left alone over time, many have become secluded sanctuaries where plant and animal life can thrive. Explore your local cemetery and see what you can find living among the dead.
An urban refuge for biodiversity
Cemeteries are not only spaces for us to explore and enjoy, they’re also sanctuaries for wildlife. In an old cemetery, the graves, stone walls, shrubs and hedges provide plenty of nooks for wildlife to hide, old trees offer places for birds and bats to nest and undisturbed areas allow plants to grow.
Graveyards are so successful at housing wildlife that in London’s Tower Hamlets Cemetery, a local group found 1,111 different species living within its walls. More than 450 different species of beetle alone have been spotted among its graves.
To read more go to: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/wildlife-in-cemeteries.html
Results of our own informal nature survey here: http://www.fofc.uk/nature-survey/