Sandwell contains significant amounts of natural and semi-natural space with almost a quarter of all land (23.7%) being some form of green space.
There are 1,200 hectares of accessible green space spread across 323 sites. Sandwell’s extensive churchyard and cemetery sites provide significant additional green space within the urban landscape of the Borough.
As well as providing final resting places and memorials for loved ones, our sites also provide spaces for reflection, opportunities to connect with nature and support a wide range of wildlife and plant life. They contribute to the borough's biodiversity and to resident wellbeing, both physical and mental. Such benefits are well documented.
Our sites contribute to green corridors across Sandwell with many having mature trees, supporting a range of wild bird and insect life within a very urban and industrial landscape.
These clearly also support our Boroughwide Climate Change Strategy/Action Plan. Increasingly the natural world is being understood as an essential ingredient in ensuring our well-being and continued survival on earth. Natural Capital plays a vital role in reducing the impacts of climate change, e.g. surface water flooding and extreme heat, and it also absorbs carbon.
Sandwell’s Natural Capital, including its cemeteries and churchyards, are key components in Borough's commitment to reduce emissions. The range of benefits to Sandwell from green spaces also include cleaner air, improved mental and physical well-being and a home for wildlife. We actively manage and protect our mature trees and support the borough's new tree planting campaign across our sites.
Three of our sites - Tipton Cemetery, Sandwell Valley Crematorium and Fallings Heath Cemetery currently maintain Green Flag status, sitting alongside other managed green spaces in the borough and supporting a key objective in Sandwell’s Green Spaces Strategy 2022 and our Climate Change Action Plan.
Our dedicated cemeteries teams ensure good local knowledge and engagement with local residents and visitors, providing the foundations to increase stakeholder engagement in these areas to promote resident wellbeing and biodiversity. The Covid-19 pandemic also demonstrated the importance of these areas to individual health and wellbeing.
Our sites also provide opportunities for educational activity for children and young people in green spaces, helping them to understand Sandwell’s rich history, alongside conservation and access to nature and wildlife.
We aim to increase our engagement with local people and other partners such as education, public health, leisure and tourism, the climate change team, and wildlife organisations to help us better document and maintain these areas and move towards greater sustainability and rewilding to support these strategic aims. We actively support and work alongside The Friends of Tipton Cemetery and welcome the creation of further friends groups across our sites.
We also form part of Eco Record a website that collects, collates and makes available information about the wildlife, wildlife sites and habitats of Birmingham and the Black Country. Eco Record currently has over 500,000 species recorded on its database.
We are also reviewing our cemetery guidance to work with residents to reduce the amount of plastic on our sites.