Environmentally-friendly burials are to be explored at a special conference.

Calls will be made for people to consider being buried in woodland burial sites in biodegradable coffins.

And workshops will be held to explore how graveyards can be turned into wildlife havens.

The Earth Care Conference, organised by the Bradford Diocese, will be held at St Andrew's Church Hall, in Newmarket Street, Skipton, on Saturday, October 23, between 10am and 4.30pm.

The town already has a green burial site at Tarn Moor, where people are buried in biodegradable caskets and trees planted in their memory.

Diocesan environmental officer Claire Hyde, who has helped organise the conference, has accused the church of being too "quiet" about environmental issues in the past.

The speakers include Bishop of Bradford the Right Rev David James, and Josefine Speyer, co-founder of the Natural Death Centre in London.

The conference is free and people will be given a free meal of organic, locally-grown and fair-traded food.

Mrs Hyde said: "The church has been quiet for too long about environmental issues.

"If our faith is founded in our belief in God as Creator, then it follows that we must respect and protect what He has created.

"We all share responsibility for caring for the environment and that should stretch from life into death."

She said talking about death was still a taboo which must be treated more openly, and urged people to think carefully about planning their funeral.

"The conference will not be a miserable day - it will be lively, not morbid. I hope it is exciting and we have some inspirational and provocative speakers," she added.

On broader environmental issues, she said the conference would focus on how our lives affected climate change and people in the Third World.

"We want to get people to realise that what they do in their lives will make a difference to others," she said.

Isobel Warren, author of the Guide to Eco-Friendly Shopping in and around Skipton, said: "The guide takes you from cradle to grave - from where to buy organic baby food to details of Skipton's own woodland burial site."

A competition to design a T-shirt/poster with an Earth Care theme has been running throughout the summer. The winners will be announced at the conference.

To book a place, call Kadugli House, Steeton, on (01535) 650555.