The richly complex call of the nightingale is a uncommon presence in Britain these days, but it's different at the Surrey site. Back in 2020, a single bird could be heard at this remote place in rural Surrey; lately, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them singing all night, from several zones,” says Meg Cookson, lead ecologist for the youth rewilding group. A band of Youngwilders were staying overnight at the property, however the birds were so boisterous, “we stayed awake all night,” remarks an engagement lead. “We were all knackered the next day, but it was so cool.” An expert from the local conservation group came to help them capture and tag one of the birds the next morning, Cookson states: “He’d never handled a songbird in his care before. He was crying.”
Rewilding Speeds Up at Maple Farm
Ecological restoration is by definition a slow process, but at this site at Maple Farm, after only several seasons, the outcomes are already evident, and audible. The land used to be a haven for animals. Currently it’s a showpiece for the Youngwilders’ goal: to accelerate habitat revival, in one of the biodiversity-poor nations in the globe, and to link the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a natural world they are often denied access to, and a climate crisis they are often powerless to stop. Climate change continues, deforestation destroys natural habitats, and another international meeting draws to a unsatisfactory conclusion in abroad – so what person could blame young people for wanting to act independently?
Our project was premised on the notion that there were people willing to let a group of youthful amateurs on to their land
“The newer cohort is the best educated in terms of nature that there’s historically,” states the group's founder, a key figure. They are also “the highly invested in the issues, and have played the smallest part to their causing, and, then, are also going to experience consequences most as a result.”
Revitalization of the Property
Now, the initiative is taking root across the UK – and this location started it all, in multiple ways. “It’s the initial project, and the place we established our community,” notes Molly Easton, as she provides a tour of the 12-hectare property. “This once consisted of divided plots,” she comments, as we stroll through long grass dotted with low scrub, hemmed by established trees. “The key noticeable transformation is that we’ve taken out all the enclosures, over a kilometer of it, to make it feel like a unified landscape.” In the recent season, they donned hazmat suits and cleared masses of giant hogweed, an invasive species that can burn the flesh. “We’ve established loads of natural barriers,” notes Easton. “But the main thing is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a brief period. We’ve eliminated a lot of livestock impact and observed what’s sprung up.”
Bushes and natural fences are a perfect nightingale habitat, she says, although now they’re cutting back some of the wild growth to establish a greater range of environments and to link up separate areas of the land. New trees will take much more time to grow, but young trees from the nearby trees are already taking root in the meadows; the crew have been setting up guards to safeguard them from grazing deer.
Animals Reappears in Abundance
It’s not just the nightingales – wildlife is returning in abundance. This year they’ve spotted serpents, slowworms, bats and bugs, says a team member, as he raises one of their monitoring tools (such as a doormat over a small hollow in the soil). “You find snakes and things sheltering under there, but it’s likely a slightly chilly for them now.” Wild nests, built using empty parts of wood and humming with wild bees, are strapped to some of the plants. The removal of grazing horses has provided insects room to prosper in the overgrown areas. When they came to this summer, says Bennett, “I’d not ever seen so many lepidoptera. There were just swarms of them. We were like, ‘What is happening?’”
Inception of the Movement
The first Youngwilders – Bennett, Durant, Easton and two others – formed as youth, pursuing or expressing an passion in environmental science. In that year, the climate experts was indicating that the target of 1.5C of warming was appearing impossible, Greta Thunberg was guiding the school strikes for eco-awareness, and activist a speaker was addressing the generation suffering from “eco-worry”. It was also the era of a writer's book, about nature recovery, on how the authors revitalized the a Sussex location from a struggling farm into a successful ecosystem. “We were super-inspired by the Knepp story, but what was the function for young people?” questions Molly. “So we developed a online presence and called many of conservation groups and were saying, ‘Do you ever get your estate holders seeking to take action and you don’t have resources?’”
Jack explains the narrative: “Our entire initiative was fundamentally premised on the belief that there were landowners who were prepared to permit a bunch of youthful idiots on to their property without strict rules, to make significant decisions that would impact land value
