‘Places of the living’: bishop of Norwich calls for churchyards to be rewilded

Graham Usher urges Church of England to look into this often very ancient land', as it prepares to vote on increasing biodiversity

Churchyards should be rewilded to increase biodiversity and to make them places of the living, not just the dead", a Church of England bishop has said.

Local parishes are responsible for about 7,100 hectares (17,500 acres) of churchyards in England. The C of E also owns about 34,000 hectares of farmland, mostly let to tenant farmers, and 9,300 hectares of forestry.