On November 16, 2012, I and other students of Tropical International Forestry (TIF) at Georg-August University, Gottingen were taken on an excursion to Reinhardswald. Reinhardswald is a range of hills up to 472.2m above sea level, covering an area of over 200 km2 in the Wesser uplands in the district of Kessel, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the largest forests and least populated regions in Germany. Beech and oak in particular thrive there, and there are extensive areas of wood pastures.[break]
I was surprised to find that the forest also served as a cemetery. According to our professor, many Germans choose electric incineration of their dead through funeral machines, which do not use firewood. Germans are not allowed to bury the ashes of dead persons in nearby forests or in their gardens. This may be for hygienic reasons. But in Reinhardswald, the ashes of dead persons were buried near trees, which was called natural burial. Natural burial is the interment of corpses in soil in a manner that does not inhibit decomposition, but allows the body to recycle naturally. It is an alternative to other contemporary Western burial methods. It is a Swiss concept which has been in practice for the last 12 years. We learnt that in order to maintain as much closeness as possible to the natural environment, the gravestones are replaced with trees. It can also be seen as a return to nature.
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The tree type can be picked from a list of trees native to the local area. Generally, oak and beech are used. The most popular tree was found to be oak, because it grows for 400 to 500 years, but beech stops growing after 250 years. The selection of available trees has been limited in order to avoid a selection bias and to ensure a mixture analogous to the surrounding countryside.
Foresters prepare the place for natural burial. The bereaved family brings their own priest for the ceremony. The decoration of graves with ornaments, toys or any non-biodegradable object is forbidden, but flowers can be offered. The burial ground has no specific religious ties.
At a single glance, we know which tree was used for natural burial. Blue bands indicate free trees. The trees used for natural burial are protected by a mixture of sand and glue up to about four feet, so that reindeer cannot scratch them or cause them injuries. The tree holds a name plate with the name of the dead person.
As I got to know more about this method, I found that there are companionship trees, family trees, community trees, etc available for natural burial. For example, using one tree for the burial of ashes of people of same community costs 770 euro. A tree for family members costs 3,000 euro. The money thus collected goes to the government, but the state owns the forest. The forest has separate areas for persons who had donated money to WWF during their lifetimes. Special concessions are allowed to these persons.
I found the method of natural burial similar to Hindu death rites. I realized that the Hindu funeral system was better than modern western systems of burial, since we return to nature after death in the form of air, soil and water. Returning from the excursion, I was glad that Europeans had begun following our path. I returned to my room full of rich and varied impressions.
The author has a B.Sc. in Forestry from the Institute of Forestry, Hetauda
moonmoon_2063@yahoo.com
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