The Centre for Natural Burial

BRYAN FURNASS, The Canbera Times

From time immemorial, dying, death and the disposal of human remains have been of central concern to human cultures. For many thousands of years early humans buried their dead in simple shallow graves, their bodies thereafter becoming part of the natural ecosystem.

Since neolithic times and the development of civilisation, humans have become the only species in which the dead do not return naturally to the ecosystem. Illusions of immortality led the ancient Egyptians to develop embalming techniques for the preservation of bodies of pharoahs and other influential persons, a practice which is still favoured by some wealthy people today.

Ancient Romans consigned their dead to subterranean catacombs, and when disintegration of soft body parts was complete and demand for space more pressing, skeletal remains could be transferred to ossuaries.

As Christianity spread throughout Europe, burial grounds became associated with churches, graves being dug deeply below fertile soil, into which bodies enclosed in wooden coffins were lowered.

In contrast to the pomp and circumstance of some funerals, Thomas Gray (1716-1771) wrote of the levelling effect of mortality, in his Elegy written in a Country Churchyard:

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow’r,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e’re gave,

Awaits alike th’inevitable hour:

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

More humorously, the Yorkshire folk song On Ilkley Moor bar t’at depicts awareness of the re-cycling powers of nature: ”Then worms’ll cum an’ eat thee up”.

As population increased and churchyards became crowded, extensive civic cemeteries were established.

Long-life coffins, deep burial and embalming result in the dead remaining intact for a very long time, occupying and scarring valuable real estate in cities.

Partly as a result of crowding, cremation was introduced as a method of body disposal in Britain in the late 19th century, and South Australia was the first state in Australia to introduce cremation facilities in 1909.

Contrary to popular opinion, cremation is not a ”clean” way of body disposal. Studies of emissions reveal that incineration turns people into at least 46 different pollutants. Some of these, like nitrous oxides and heavy metals, remain in the atmosphere for more than a century, causing ozone depletion and acid rain.

There are other ecological disadvantages, including particulate and greenhouse gas emissions from gas or electric- fired incinerators, and the waste of valuable timber from rainforests evanescently used for body storage in coffins.

In recent years, an alternative to deep burial and cremation has emerged through the concept of natural cemeteries. The burial method is in a 1m-deep plot, with rapidly bio-degradable, non-pollutant caskets or shrouds, compost soil and over-planting with native trees.

This enables natural processes of decay to occur, returning the body’s nutrients to the ecosystem rapidly and without pollution, while the over-growing tree or shrub extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The first natural cemetery was established in Britain in 1993. By 2003 there were over 100 and by 2008 over 200, their growth in popularity being three times faster than for cremation.

There is a well established natural cemetery in Wellington, New Zealand, and one is planned for South Australia. It is intended that the cemetery will become a permanent bush park a living memorial to those buried there, a home for native flora and fauna, and a beautiful place for family and friends to visit. The natural burial is effectively an environmental donation both physically and monetarily to the biosphere and to future generations.

The ACT Government is proposing a second gas-fired crematorium for Canberra, which is actively opposed by local residents.

Alternatively, for a government which prides itself on aiming for sustainability and reducing our greenhouse gas footprint, a golden opportunity should not be missed to establish a natural cemetery, which would enhance rather than detract from environmental values.

The rising generation of ecologically aware citizens might be enthusiastic if tripartisan support could be gained to implement such a vision.

Further information from www.naturalburials.com.au.

Bryan Furnass is a retired physician with an interest in environmental health.