That richly complex song of the songbird is a uncommon presence in England these days, but it's different at the Surrey site. Back in 2020, a lone bird could be noticed at this remote place in rural Surrey; this summer, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them calling all night, from five different territories,” notes Meg Cookson, top biologist for the youth rewilding group. A team of Youngwilders were staying overnight at the site, however the birds were so noisy, “we were unable to rest all night,” comments Layla Mapemba. “We were all worn out 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 nightingales the next morning, she recalls: “He’d never touched a songbird in his hands before. He was teary.”
Rewilding Speeds Up at Maple Farm
Ecological restoration is by definition a lengthy process, but in this place at this property, after merely a short period, the outcomes are already visible, and audible. The land was once a sanctuary for horses. Currently it’s a model for the youth-led mission: to hasten nature recovery, in one of the most nature-depleted regions in the planet, and to engage young people (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often excluded from, and a climate crisis they are often unable to prevent. Climate change continues, deforestation damages ecosystems, and another climate conference comes to a disappointing conclusion in the host country – so who could criticize youth for wishing to act independently?
Our initiative was based on the notion that there were individuals ready to allow a group of young idiots on to their property
“The newer cohort is the most informed in terms of nature that there’s ever been,” says the Youngwilders’ co-director, a key figure. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the problems, and have played the minimal role to their origin, and, then, are also going to experience consequences the greatest as a result.”
Revitalization of the Site
Currently, the organisation is taking root across the UK – and Maple Farm planted the seed, in multiple ways. “It’s our origin point, and where we built our connections,” says another co-director, as she provides a tour of the 12-hectare property. “This once consisted of divided plots,” she comments, as we move through overgrown meadows dotted with shrubs, hemmed by mature woodland. “The main visible change is that we’ve removed all the fencing, 1.2km of it, to make it feel like a single area.” In the summer, they wore protective gear and cleared large amounts of invasive plants, an non-native plant that can burn the body. “We’ve introduced numerous of bush lines,” explains Easton. “But the main thing is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a short time. We’ve removed a large part of grazing pressure and seen what’s come up.”
Bushes and natural fences are a excellent nightingale home, she explains, although now they’re trimming some of the wild growth to develop a more variety of environments and to connect different sections of the land. Fresh plantings will take considerably longer to grow, but saplings from the surrounding woodland are already taking root in the fields; the crew have been installing barriers to safeguard them from wildlife.
Nature Returns in Droves
It’s not just the songbirds – wildlife is returning in droves. Lately they’ve seen reptiles, creatures, bats and invertebrates, notes a team member, as he raises one of their reptile mats (similar to a cover over a depression in the earth). “You find reptiles and animals hiding under there, but it’s possibly a slightly cool for them now.” Organic nests, built using carved sections of timber and buzzing with pollinators, are strapped to some of the woodland. The removal of livestock has allowed insects room to flourish in the overgrown areas. When they came to this summer, comments he, “I’d not ever seen so many lepidoptera. There were just swarms of them. We were wondering, ‘What is happening?’”
Inception of the Project
The original participants – Noah, Durant, Molly and two others – came together as learners, focusing on or expressing an passion in environmental science. In 2019, the IPCC was predicting that the target of 1.5C of warming was appearing unachievable, Greta Thunberg was guiding the demonstrations for climate movement, and activist a speaker was addressing the generation feeling “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of Isabella Tree’s publication, Wilding, on how the authors changed the a Sussex location from a failing dairy farm into a thriving wildlife haven. “We were highly motivated by the case study, but what could be the part for young people?” questions Molly. “So we made a online presence and contacted numerous of wildlife trusts and were asking, ‘Do you occasionally get your property owners wishing to do something and you don’t have capacity?’”
Jack adds the narrative: “Our entire initiative was basically premised on the notion that there were landowners who were prepared to let a group of young idiots on to their property without strict rules, to make major actions that would affect land value
