The richly complex song of the nightingale is a scarce sound in England today, yet not at the Surrey site. Back in 2020, a lone nightingale could be noticed at this secluded location in rural Surrey; lately, they were everywhere. “We were hearing them chirping all night, from multiple areas,” says one ecologist, chief environmental expert for the eco-activist organization. A team of participants were residing temporarily at the location, but the birds were so boisterous, “we were unable to rest all night,” says Layla Mapemba. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so incredible.” An specialist from the regional nature organization came to help them trap and mark one of the songbirds the next morning, Cookson remembers: “He’d never handled a songbird in his possession before. He was emotional.”
Ecological Restoration Accelerates at the Surrey Site
Nature recovery is by definition a lengthy endeavor, but at this site at Maple Farm, after merely four years, the results are already visible, and audible. The farm previously served as a haven for horses. Currently it’s a example for the Youngwilders’ mission: to accelerate nature recovery, in one of the most nature-depleted nations in the planet, and to link the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often denied access to, and a climate crisis they are often unable to halt. Climate change continues, deforestation destroys ecosystems, and yet another international meeting draws to a disappointing conclusion in Brazil – so what person could fault the younger generation for choosing to initiate change themselves?
Our initiative was premised on the belief that there were people willing to permit a collection of young enthusiasts on to their property
“The younger generation is the most knowledgeable in terms of nature that there’s ever been,” explains the Youngwilders’ co-director, Jack Durant. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the challenges, and have contributed the least to their causing, and, then, are also going to suffer the worst as a consequence.”
Transformation of the Landscape
Today, the group is growing across the Britain – and this location planted the seed, in all respects. “It’s our origin point, and where we built our community,” explains another co-director, as she gives a tour of the 30-acre property. “This was previously divided plots,” she comments, as we move through tall vegetation filled with shrubs, surrounded by forest. “The main visible difference is that we’ve taken out all the fencing, a significant length of it, to give the sense like a unified environment.” In the warmer months, they donned special clothing and cleared masses of harmful weeds, an non-native plant that can burn the skin. “We’ve established loads of hedgerows,” says she. “But the key action is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a little bit. We’ve eliminated a large part of grazing pressure and noticed what’s come up.”
Bushes and shrub lines are a ideal nightingale habitat, she says, although currently they’re trimming some of the thorny plants to establish a greater diversity of habitats and to connect separate areas of the property. Young saplings will take much more time to take root, but young trees from the adjacent woodland are already taking root in the open areas; the team have been installing protectors to safeguard them from wildlife.
Wildlife Comes Back in Droves
In addition to the nightingales – fauna is coming back in droves. Lately they’ve observed grass snakes, creatures, bats and bugs, notes a team member, as he raises one of their monitoring tools (similar to a doormat over a depression in the ground). “You discover reptiles and things hiding under there, but it’s probably a slightly cold for them now.” Organic nests, constructed from carved sections of wood and buzzing with wild bees, are attached to some of the plants. The removal of animals has provided invertebrates room to flourish in the overgrown areas. When they explored this season, says Bennett, “I’d never encountered so many lepidoptera. There were just clouds of them. We were wondering, ‘What is going on?’”
Origins of the Project
The original founders – Noah, Jack, Easton and additional members – came together as youth, pursuing or sharing an passion in ecology. In 2019, the IPCC was forecasting that the target of one and a half degrees of global heating was seeming impossible, Greta Thunberg was leading the school strikes for climate movement, and advocate another voice was discussing the generation experiencing “environmental stress”. It was also the period of a writer's work, on rewilding, on how she and her husband revitalized the Knepp Estate from a unsuccessful farm into a flourishing wildlife haven. “We were deeply influenced by the example, but what could be the part for the next generation?” says Molly. “So we developed a platform and rang up many of conservation groups and were asking, ‘Do you sometimes get your estate holders seeking to take action and you are short on resources?’”
Durant explains the account: “Our complete initiative was fundamentally premised on the idea that there were landowners who were prepared to allow a bunch of young enthusiasts on to their land without strict rules, to take major decisions that would affect land value
