{"id":12670,"date":"2026-05-16T23:49:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T23:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/12670\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T23:49:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T23:49:30","slug":"natural-burials-begin-at-nsw-conservation-cemetery-walawaani-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/12670\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural burials begin at NSW conservation cemetery Walawaani Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cristina Giusti feels at peace when she visits her son’s grave.<\/p>\n

Before her son Adam Clark died in January, the two had discussed how he would like to be buried.<\/p>\n

“From a young boy, he loved being out in the bush in the country,” she said.<\/p>\n

“He loved the fact that we could plant a tree on his grave and his remains would go to feed this tree.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Cristina Giusti spoke with her son, Adam, about what he wanted before he died. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)<\/p>\n

Adam was one of the first people buried at Walawaani Way, a conservation burial ground located on a former cattle paddock in Bodalla on the NSW south coast.<\/p>\n

Ms Giusti remembered when she first found a spot for her son between two gum trees on a hill overlooking the Tuross River, with cows grazing in the pastures below.<\/p>\n

“We lined up his site, and I lay on the ground,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It was a really emotional time because I’d just lost my eldest child, my son.<\/p>\n

“I just laid there and I kept thinking: This is where you’re going to be and it’s OK.”\"A<\/p>\n

Adam Grant wanted to have a tree on his grave. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

All burials at Walawaani Way are done either in biodegradable or compostable containers, such as coffins made from wicker or cardboard, or the body is deposited in the ground in a natural fibre shroud.<\/p>\n

There are no headstones marking sites, but instead a native tree is chosen and planted on top of the grave.<\/p>\n

For Adam, Ms Giusti chose a southern mahogany sapling to mark his place.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Adam’s grave overlooks the Tuross River at Walawaani Way. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)<\/p>\n

Returning to nature<\/p>\n

A natural burial involves burying a deceased person in a shallow grave and allowing them to decompose naturally, usually with minimal disturbance to neighbouring bushland.<\/p>\n

All materials involved in the burial are biodegradable, such as wicker, cane or cardboard caskets and coffins, or being buried only in a shroud from a natural fibre, such as silk, cotton or linen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Woven coffins are a biodegradable option for bodies to be placed within. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)<\/p>\n

Walawaani Way founder Fiona McCuiag said more people were looking into a natural burial in part because they wanted a simple, environmentally conscious farewell.<\/p>\n

“They don’t want to have all the fuss. They’re not wanting to do another polluting act,” she said.<\/p>\n

“They’re feeling really good about going somewhere beautiful that’s going to actually improve the environment.”\"Painted<\/p>\n

Walaawani Way is located in Bodalla on the NSW south coast. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)<\/p>\n

Walawaani Way has already sold 93 plots, with six bodies interred since opening in December 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms McCuiag said the cost was on par with what the local Eurobodalla Shire Council charged for interment.<\/p>\n

“Eventually, I’d love to get it to the same price with the services included as cremation,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Fiona McCuaig wants the burial ground to double as conservation habitat for species like the glossy black cockatoo. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)<\/p>\n

Natural burials growing in popularity<\/p>\n

Not-for-profit the Natural Death Advocacy Network (NDAN) estimates that there are 31 natural burial sites across Australia, up from 14 in 2020.<\/p>\n

NDAN offers accreditation for natural burial sites and sets minimum standards, which include only one body per gravesite compared to traditional internment sites going three deep.<\/p>\n

The burials must also be plastic-free and chemical-free as much as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The best way for a body to decompose into beneficial elements is actually having a body at the top of the surface of the soil,” Ms McCuiag said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

So far, six bodies have been interred out at Walawaani Way. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)<\/p>\n

Family members also have control over how they decorate their loved ones’ graves.<\/p>\n

“There’s the option of people being able to put in a little bit of mulch, a little bit of topsoil, native flowers as they choose,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Bodies can be interred in only a shroud. (Supplied: Rebecca Lyons)<\/p>\n

“They’re involved and feel good about a proper goodbye, and that’s what it’s all about.<\/p>\n

“We can’t change the fact that someone’s died, but we can do it in a better way.”<\/p>\n

Casuarinas, southern mahoganies and black she-oaks have also been planted at Walawaani Way to conserve and regenerate the local environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Coffins for natural burials can be made of cardboard and decorated by family members and loved ones. (Supplied: Brent Occleshaw)<\/p>\n

Barriers to burial<\/p>\n

Barriers remain to natural burials becoming more commonplace, including the stringent public health regulations and local government permissions that govern where people can be buried.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It took Ms McCuiag nearly 10 years of navigating state and local government red tape to make Walawaani Way a reality.<\/p>\n

“We needed to do all the geotech and all the reports that were needed to make it a natural burial and also protect the environment,” she said.<\/p>\n

Australian Cemetery and Cremetoria Association CEO Ben Kelly said there was a growing interest in greener burial options, but natural burials remained a niche choice in part because of death avoidance.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ben Kelly says mourning loved ones often do not have time to consider their many options. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n

“We often hear people saying, ‘Oh, I wish I’d gone and organised a natural burial for my father because he would have really liked that,'” Mr Kelly said.<\/p>\n

“In the moment, you’re grieving, you only have a couple of days to sort something out and you just go with what’s available most times.”\"A<\/p>\n

Cristina Giusti visits her son’s grave once or twice a week. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)<\/p>\n

Ms Giusti regularly returns to the quiet field at Walawaani Way to visit her son’s grave, glad she was able to honour his end-of-life wishes.<\/p>\n

“I’ll come and look at the cows and the emus running across the fields, and it does bring a lot of comfort,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’m going to get the spot right next to him if I can.”<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Emus freely roam over the grounds at Walawaani Way on the NSW South Coast. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cristina Giusti feels at peace when she visits her son’s grave. Before her son Adam Clark died in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,13332,13330,4368,13334,13333,13331],"class_list":["post-12670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-bodalla","tag-cemetery","tag-conservation","tag-natural-burial","tag-nsw-south-coast","tag-walaawani-way"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}