Each year there are more cremations than burials in Australia. Even for traditional burials, monuments are often just uniform plaques with bare biographical details on a concrete slab. It seems that we want death to be clean and painless, and our cemeteries to be neat and unemotional - and preferably not too costly. We certainly don't want to take a train to Rookwood and have a family picnic near Granny's grave on her birthday, as our Victorian-age ancestors did.

Some monuments have major heritage value in their own right,such as this beautiful example at St Patricks Cemetery, Bradfordville. Photograph by Chris Betteridge, courtesy of National Trust (NSW)

Because the community is generally unsympathetic to the more extravagant memorialisation of former time, there is often little interest in repair and maintenance of the older sections of our cemeteries - especially if it entails public funds or increases in burial fees.

Gardeners like cemeteries because of the rare bulbs and old-fashioned "heritage" roses found lurking among the monuments. Historians like them for the critical scraps of biographical information on headstones , or evidence of accidental deaths. Botanists love the patches of rare native species or plants they protect. Artists and photographers love the association of fine arts and wild nature, the detailed sculpture against the unclipped hedge. Bird-watchers, family historians, book-readers, and landscape architects all want to visit cemeteries for their own reasons.

Despite their evident disapproval of death in general, most people have at least some positive feeling towards their local cemetery. This is only partly because Aunt Beatrice is buried there; it's also because the cemetery is part of the civic furniture - "It's always been there", "I remember when....".

People generally think cemeteries can be classified only by size and aesthetics: it's a big cemetery or it's a small cemetery; it's a pretty one, or it's not. In fact, cemeteries vary to reflect the local community and its history far more than people imagine. The choice of indigenous or European trees generally reflects what is growing in the main street and central park; the number (and age) of Celtic crosses relates to whether (and when) the area was a focus of Irish immigration; a group of larger monuments may represent a period of high wool prices, or the town's mining heyday; and a group of children's graves, a long-forgotten epidemic.

Other aspects may be rather less obvious. Sometimes, a large number of unmarked graves represents economic depression, elsewhere a transient population. A large cemetery with few graves may indicate a mining venture that failed, or it may result from a new bridge that gave the town access to a prettier cemetery.

Similarly the layout and landscaping of a cemetery, like the area allocated, often relate more to the expectations of the early settlers than to subsequent history. Layout may also show the strength of divisions within society. In some country cemeteries the different denominational sections are hard to distinguish, but in other areas there are picket fences and tree lines and burials in opposite corners to prevent fraternisation, even in death.

In fact, cemeteries represent a community and its history far more than most people imagine.

Even abandoned churchyards frequently show original landscaping and grave plantings, as shown at this churchyard at Yarra. Photograph courtesy of National Trust (NSW)

Heritage is often defined as "the things we want to keep". Why not "the things our grandchildren would want us to keep"? In most cases this is a better concept, but also less useful as it is largely speculative. In the case of cemeteries, however, the question becomes especially relevant. In our grandchildren's lifetime, many more cemeteries and graveyards will be closed or will have no more plots to allocate. As funding for the maintenance of many cemeteries comes largely from plot sales and burial fees, this means that only a few cemeteries will have accumulated sufficient income or investment funds for long-term conservation.

If even a proportion - large or small - of our cemeteries is to be conserved in the long term, two things need to be achieved:

• those who currently care about them must convince the community generally of the value of cemeteries;

• our cemetery managers have to make sure that the retention of heritage values is recognised as a central aspect of planning and operation.

This saying may or may not apply to some of those at rest in our cemeteries, but it certainly applies to some managers, and occasionally to descendants, in their treatment of our cemeteries and individual graves. The most spectacular examples came with the "Memorial Rest Park" epidemic from the 1950s to the 1970s which created soulless, open spaces with scattered headstones. Yes, they are generally well-kept and yes, they are economical to maintain (with all grave edging and iron fencing gone). But they are not proper parks, and they are not proper cemeteries. No ball games, no inspiring examples of the local smithy's skills, no intact family groupings of headstones, and generally no trace of the original landscape design or old-fashioned plantings.

Often the perceived objective was no more than "to improve appearance". Unfortunately the most significant part of that appearance - a sense of age, a link with past times - was the first and greatest casualty.

Modern managers are generally more sensitive than their predecessors, but the positioning of new columbaria is only rarely inspired, all too often jarringly inappropriate. As to the over-enthusiastic weeding and poisoning, or the scouring of headstones to make them look new, the spirit sinks....

Many cemeteries have areas of distinctive style, like this row of art deco style "bed" monuments from the 1930s at a cemetery near Albury. Photograph by National Trust (NSW)

Local government has been responsible for most general cemeteries in NSW since 1966. It has taken a long time, but most councils now accept their obligation - and an increasing number even embrace it. In the community there is more interest in social history after the Bicentennial and Federation celebrations, which together with family history groups and the environmental movement now provides at least a strong support base of citizens interested in cemetery conservation.

The Heritage Office is contributing to the cause through its support for Heritage Advisers to local councils, and for two programs at the National Trust of Australia (NSW). One is a state-wide survey of cemeteries by the Trust's Cemeteries Committee, the other enables the National Trust to provide unbiased technical advice to councils, managers and individuals on all aspects of cemetery conservation.

Now if we can maintain and enhance community interest, and encourage managers to conserve cemetery heritage values, we can at least begin to plan for the long-term future of these currently under-valued community assets.

A rare example of an unusual monument at Braidwood General Cemetery. Photograph by L. Murray, courtesy of National Trust (NSW)