Building Conservation Relationships

What goes into creating conservation burial grounds?

Consult

Your local land trust is a good place to start to learn more about conservation principles. For more about how conservation burial ground operators interact with land trusts, consider hiring a consultant for initial advice, and be sure to check in with the any of following organizations, offices and agencies:

Local Land Trusts
Local, State and National Parks
Local Conservation Commissions
County Conservation Districts
Extension Agents
State Biologists
Independent environmental businesses
University Environmental Science Departments

Connect

Relationship building is essential to the success of conservation burial projects because every one of them will become part of the fabric of your community. Seek out people in your community who can assist in making change, such as:

Land abutters
Real estate agents
Local officials and municipal employees
Activists and advocates in your community
Clergy, spiritual leaders
Hospices
Home funeral guides or end of life doulas
State chapters of environmental orgs
Thought leaders in your community
State legislators and elected officials

Conserve

Conservation land trusts have developed proven principles for acquisition and management of intrinsically valuable lands.

Conservation burial as a land conservation strategy relies on those same principles, and partnering with responsible land trusts ensures future access for the families involved, and the assurance that their loved ones' resting place will remain cared for according to best practices.

Reliable funding to support the acquisition, maintenance, and future of protected land and burial grounds on them is essential. Locate invested donors and volunteers but keep your eye on the prize: building community around an idea that benefits everyone.

Find More Resources

The Green Burial Council, formed in 2005, is both the only green burial cemetery certifying entity in the world and a robust group of educators and advocates who seek to encourage death care practices that are environmentally safe and sustainable. Learn more about green burials in the US and Canada, including conservation burial grounds. www.greenburialcouncil.org

The Land Trust Alliance is "the voice of the land trust community." The LTA's recommended standards and practices are the foundations for all conservation burial practices. Learn more about conservation principles and how they work to ensure permanent land protection. www.landtrustalliance.org

There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.
— Theodore Roosevelt