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That manically melodic song of the songbird is a rare occurrence in the UK today, yet it's different at the Surrey site. Back in 2020, a lone bird could be noticed at this hidden spot in the countryside of Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them singing all night, from several zones,” says a lead scientist, top biologist for the eco-activist organization. A team of Youngwilders were camping out at the property, however the nightingales were so boisterous, “we stayed awake all night,” comments Layla Mapemba. “We were all worn out the next day, but it was so incredible.” An professional 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 held a songbird in his hands before. He was crying.”

Rewilding Speeds Up at This Location

Ecological restoration is by definition a slow endeavor, but at this site at this property, after only four years, the changes are already visible, and hearable. The property previously served as a sanctuary for animals. Now it’s a model for the Youngwilders’ mission: to accelerate ecological restoration, in one of the ecologically impoverished nations in the planet, and to link the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often excluded from, and a climate crisis they are often powerless to stop. Global heating advances, tree clearing damages natural habitats, and one more Cop summit comes to a disappointing end in Brazil – so what person could criticize the younger generation for choosing to take matters into their own hands?

The organisation was founded on the belief that there were individuals willing to permit a group of youthful amateurs on to their land

“The youth is the most knowledgeable in terms of nature that there’s ever been,” states the group's founder, a key figure. They are also “the highly invested in the problems, and have contributed the smallest part to their origin, and, then, are also going to suffer most as a result.”

Transformation of the Landscape

Today, the organisation is growing across the UK – and Maple Farm planted the seed, in every sense. “It’s the initial project, and the place we built our connections,” says a founding member, as she provides a overview of the 12-hectare property. “This was previously divided plots,” she says, as we walk through overgrown meadows filled with low scrub, hemmed by established trees. “The main noticeable difference is that we’ve removed all the barriers, a significant length of it, to give the sense like a unified area.” In the warmer months, they wore special clothing and removed large amounts of giant hogweed, an aggressive flora that can harm the body. “We’ve established loads of natural barriers,” says Easton. “But the main thing is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a brief period. We’ve eliminated a significant amount of livestock impact and noticed what’s emerged.”

Low scrub and hedgerows are a excellent nightingale environment, she explains, although today they’re managing some of the wild growth to develop a more range of habitats and to join two parts of the land. Fresh plantings will take a while to establish, but saplings from the adjacent trees are already growing in the meadows; the crew have been placing barriers to shield them from wildlife.

Wildlife Reappears in Large Numbers

It’s not just the nightingales – fauna is returning in droves. This year they’ve observed grass snakes, legless lizards, nocturnal mammals and insects, says a team member, as he raises one of their monitoring tools (like a doormat over a indentation in the soil). “You discover snakes and things sheltering under there, but it’s likely a bit cold for them now.” Natural beehives, built using empty sections of wood and active with pollinators, are strapped to some of the woodland. The absence of grazing horses has allowed small creatures room to flourish in the long grass. When they came to this time, comments Bennett, “I’d never observed so numerous butterflies. There were just clouds of them. We were wondering, ‘What is happening?’”

Origins of the Initiative

The original founders – Noah, Durant, Easton and two others – came together as learners, studying or sharing an concern in nature. In 2019, the IPCC was predicting that the safe limit of one and a half degrees of warming was seeming out of reach, Greta Thunberg was spearheading the youth protests for eco-awareness, and advocate a speaker was talking about young people experiencing “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of the author's book, about nature recovery, on how she and her husband transformed the Knepp Estate from a struggling dairy farm into a flourishing ecosystem. “We were highly motivated by the example, but what could be the role for youth?” says Easton. “So we made a online presence and contacted numerous of conservation groups and were saying, ‘Do you sometimes get your property owners seeking to make changes and you don’t have resources?’”

Jack adds the account: “Our entire organisation was basically premised on the idea that there were individuals who were prepared to allow a bunch of young amateurs on to their property indiscriminately, to make major decisions that would affect land value