Hafanau Heddwch is an initial two-year development project, with a further five-year delivery project planned, pending successful future funding bids.

Burial grounds in Wales contain some of the UK’s most outstanding, precious and threatened heritage, ranging from small Medieval rural churchyards to large Victorian city cemeteries, spanning different cultures, religions and centuries. The heritage of these burial grounds is becoming increasingly at risk. This project will work to encourage community volunteers to get involved and take a proactive role in helping to look after these special places.

The Hafanau Heddwch development phase will undertake 6 pilot projects involving more than 50 burial grounds across Wales, with a focus on safeguarding and showcasing the wildlife, built heritage, social history and Welsh culture they contain, including headstones, monuments, wildflowers, ancient trees and records of the lives of those who lived in these communities.?This project aims to transform how burial ground heritage is protected and secured for future generations.

Many burial grounds are havens for wildlife and contain species which were once common across the whole of Wales. Many sites have fragments of what are now rare and unimproved meadows. Mature and veteran trees can provide food, shelter and places for nesting birds, whilst the many invertebrates living on these trees are, in turn, food for other species. Stone walls and monuments create habitats for amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, birds and invertebrates, provide ideal conditions for ferns, mosses and liverworts, and offer a refuge for many of the UK’s 2,000+ lichen species.?

Welsh churchyards contain over half of the ancient, veteran and notable yews in the UK, which is itself a globally important population. These heritage hotspots can, with the correct intervention, be at the heart of local nature recovery, whilst providing a freely accessible, peaceful and interesting green space for local residents and visitors alike.