What is terramation?
He aha a terramation?

Terramation (also known as natural organic reduction or human composting) is a process that converts human remains into soil through natural biological decomposition.

​

The process involves placing the deceased person's body tūpāpaku into a container with wood chips, straw, and other organic materials. This container is then sealed, creating an optimal environment for natural decomposition to occur. Over a period of several weeks, microorganisms that are naturally present in the human body  break down the tissues and organs, including bones, leaving behind a nutrient-rich soil. The heat generated through this process destroys most pathogens rendering the soil safe for exposure to the living. This process takes approximately 60 days and produces around one cubic metre of soil. In the states where this is practiced the soil may be returned to the family, or may be donated to a native forest regeneration programme.

​

There are certain conditions that live in the soil, for example; tuberculosis and prion-based diseases like bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) [mad cow disease], Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), etc.  People with these conditions may not be approved for natural organic reduction.

​

As an environmentally supportive alternative to burial or cremation, natural organic reduction takes nothing from the earth, does not use land space, does not introduce any chemicals or foreign substances to the land and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon is sequestered in the soil which contributes to plant growth, rather than being released into the atmosphere as CO2. Furthermore, because this process does not require fossil fuels or caskets, the carbon footprint from the production of those resources is negated.

For many, this process is viewed as a more natural and dignified end-of-life process, as the body is returned to the earth in a way that nourishes the soil and supports growth, thus completing the cycle of life - kua hua te marama.

​

​