That manically melodic melody of the songbird is a uncommon presence in the UK today, however not at this rural location. Four years ago, a lone nightingale could be noticed at this remote location in the countryside of Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them singing all night, from five different territories,” says one ecologist, chief environmental expert for the Youngwilders. A team of participants were residing temporarily at the location, however the nightingales were so loud, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” remarks Layla Mapemba. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so incredible.” An expert from the local conservation group came to help them trap and mark one of the nightingales the next morning, the ecologist remembers: “He’d never touched a songbird in his care before. He was emotional.”
Rewilding Speeds Up at the Surrey Site
Rewilding is by its very essence a lengthy business, but here at the farm, after just four years, the outcomes are already evident, and noticeable. The land was once a sanctuary for animals. Currently it’s a showpiece for the Youngwilders’ purpose: to hasten habitat revival, in one of the ecologically impoverished countries in the planet, and to link young people (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often shut out of, and a climate crisis they are often ineffectual to halt. Rising temperatures advances, deforestation eliminates wildlife homes, and another Cop summit draws to a disappointing end in abroad – so who could criticize the younger generation for choosing to initiate change themselves?
Our initiative was founded on the notion that there were landowners willing to let a group of youthful amateurs on to their land
“The younger generation is the best educated ecologically that there’s previously,” says the group's co-director, one organizer. They are also “the deeply concerned in the issues, and have added the least to their creation, and, then, are also going to suffer the worst as a result.”
Change of the Property
Today, the organisation is taking root across the United Kingdom – and this location planted the seed, in multiple ways. “It’s where we started, and the place we established our community,” says a founding member, as she gives a walkthrough of the expansive land. “This was previously divided plots,” she comments, as we walk through overgrown meadows featuring low scrub, bordered by established trees. “The primary noticeable change is that we’ve eliminated all the barriers, 1.2km of it, to make it feel like a unified area.” In the warmer months, they wore protective gear and cleared masses of invasive plants, an non-native plant that can burn the flesh. “We’ve introduced numerous of hedgerows,” explains Easton. “But the main thing is we’ve just given it space for a brief period. We’ve eliminated a large part of animal feeding and observed what’s come up.”
Bushes and shrub lines are a ideal songbird habitat, she explains, although currently they’re managing some of the wild growth to develop a greater range of environments and to connect different sections of the property. Young saplings will take considerably longer to establish, but new growth from the nearby woodland are already taking root in the meadows; the group have been installing guards to safeguard them from grazing deer.
Nature Comes Back in Droves
It’s not just the nightingales – fauna is returning in large numbers. Lately they’ve observed grass snakes, creatures, flyers and bugs, explains Noah Bennett, as he uncovers one of their monitoring tools (similar to a mat over a depression in the soil). “You get reptiles and wildlife sheltering under there, but it’s likely a somewhat chilly for them now.” Natural nests, constructed from hollowed-out sections of timber and humming with wild bees, are fixed to some of the plants. The lack of animals has allowed insects room to thrive in the overgrown areas. When they explored this season, states he, “I’d never seen so many insects. There were just masses of them. We were saying, ‘What is going on?’”
Beginnings of the Project
The first participants – Noah, Jack, Molly and more individuals – formed as youth, studying or expressing an interest in environmental science. In 2019, the IPCC was predicting that the target of 1.5C of climate change was looking unachievable, a prominent figure was guiding the youth protests for environmental action, and campaigner Clover Hogan was addressing young people suffering from “eco-worry”. It was also the period of Isabella Tree’s book, about nature recovery, on how the authors revitalized the Knepp Estate from a unsuccessful dairy farm into a successful natural habitat. “We were super-inspired by the example, but what could be the function for youth?” asks Easton. “So we made a website and contacted many of environmental organizations and were saying, ‘Do you sometimes get your estate holders wanting to do something and you lack capacity?’”
Jack explains the narrative: “Our entire initiative was fundamentally founded on the idea that there were landowners who were ready to let a bunch of youthful idiots on to their estate freely, to make major actions that would impact land value
