Natural Burial and Green Cemetery Planning
supporting the health of the land through conscientious burial practices
What is Green Burial?
Natural or Green burial: Natural burial practices are as old as humans living and dying together. It is a ritual which honors and accounts for the ecosystem in minute and measured ways. Hand dug graves and burial grounds which interact with intimacy and nourishment in their local habits, acts in stark contrast to modern industrial funerals and cemeteries. Learn more at greenburialcouncil.org
Green Burial Services
At Holistic Woodland Management we use our combined experience in ecological forest management and green burial to provide sustainable alternatives to conventional burials.
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We can provide consultation and planning for property owners who wish to start a home cemetery that supports the ecological and spiritual needs of families and forests in Western North Carolina.
Our Services include:
Cemetery planning
Grave site selection and mapping
Grave digging
Direct guidance during home burials
Ritual logistics planning.
Transitioning to Green Burial
The desire for green burial is growing in the United States with one survey from the National Funeral Directors Association reporting that 72% of cemeteries have experienced increased demand for the practice. Despite this change there are few cemeteries with the capacity to provide natural funeral services
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We can support non-profits and religious organizations who wish to create new natural burial grounds, or plots in existing cemeteries. We take an ecological approach that supports the health of the land while providing a place of rest and reverence with services that include grave mapping, planning, trail instillation, and integrative land management.