That beautifully intricate melody of the songbird is a scarce occurrence in the UK nowadays, however it's different at this rural location. Four years ago, a lone nightingale could be detected at this secluded location in rural Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were hearing them calling all night, from five different territories,” says Meg Cookson, top biologist for the eco-activist organization. A band of Youngwilders were camping out at the location, but the birds were so boisterous, “we stayed awake all night,” says a project coordinator. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so amazing.” An professional from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them net and ring one of the songbirds the next morning, the ecologist recalls: “He’d never held a songbird in his care before. He was teary.”
Rewilding Accelerates at the Surrey Site
Ecological restoration is by its very essence a lengthy business, but here at the farm, after merely several seasons, the outcomes are already evident, and audible. The farm previously served as a retirement home for horses. Currently it’s a showpiece for the youth-led purpose: to hasten nature recovery, in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the planet, and to connect youth (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often shut out of, and a global warming issue they are often unable to stop. Global heating advances, deforestation eliminates natural habitats, and another Cop summit comes to a unsatisfactory end in the host country – so what person could blame young people for wishing to take matters into their own hands?
The organisation was based on the belief that there were people ready to allow a bunch of youthful enthusiasts on to their land
“The youth is the best educated in terms of nature that there’s previously,” explains the Youngwilders’ co-director, a key figure. They are also “the deeply concerned in the issues, and have added the least to their origin, and, then, are also going to suffer most as a result.”
Transformation of the Site
Today, the organisation is growing across the UK – and this location started it all, in all respects. “It’s the initial project, and where we created our network,” notes Molly Easton, as she provides a tour of the 30-acre site. “This used to be divided plots,” she comments, as we move through overgrown meadows featuring bushes, surrounded by established trees. “The primary visual difference is that we’ve removed all the enclosures, over a kilometer of it, to give the sense like a unified landscape.” In the recent season, they wore special clothing and cleared significant quantities of invasive plants, an non-native plant that can burn the flesh. “We’ve established many of bush lines,” says the director. “But the primary focus is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a brief period. We’ve reduced a lot of animal feeding and observed what’s come up.”
Bushes and shrub lines are a perfect songbird habitat, she explains, but currently they’re managing some of the wild growth to create a more variety of habitats and to join two parts of the property. Fresh plantings will take much more time to take root, but young trees from the nearby oaks are already taking root in the open areas; the team have been placing barriers to protect them from animals.
Nature Comes Back in Large Numbers
It’s not just the songbirds – wildlife is reappearing in abundance. This year they’ve seen reptiles, creatures, nocturnal mammals and insects, says a team member, as he raises one of their monitoring tools (like a doormat over a depression in the soil). “You discover reptiles and things residing under there, but it’s possibly a slightly cold for them now.” Wild nests, constructed from hollowed-out sections of tree trunk and humming with wild bees, are strapped to some of the plants. The removal of livestock has given insects room to thrive in the long grass. When they came to this summer, comments Bennett, “I’d not ever seen so many insects. There were just clouds of them. We were like, ‘What is happening?’”
Origins of the Movement
The original founders – Noah, Durant, Molly and additional members – came together as learners, studying or sharing an passion in ecology. In 2019, the climate experts was predicting that the target of one and a half degrees of climate change was looking impossible, Greta Thunberg was guiding the youth protests for environmental action, and campaigner another voice was talking about young people feeling “environmental stress”. It was also the period of Isabella Tree’s book, on rewilding, on how the authors transformed the Knepp Estate from a struggling farm into a successful natural habitat. “We were deeply influenced by the case study, but what could be the part for young people?” says Molly. “So we made a website and contacted many of wildlife trusts and were asking, ‘Do you sometimes get your property owners wishing to do something and you don’t have resources?’”
Jack adds the account: “Our whole initiative was essentially founded on the belief that there were individuals who were prepared to allow a group of youthful amateurs on to their property freely, to take fairly massive choices that would change land value
