That beautifully intricate call of the nightingale is a uncommon presence in the UK today, but it's different at Maple Farm. Four years ago, a single bird could be heard at this remote place in rural Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them calling all night, from several zones,” notes one ecologist, chief environmental expert for the youth rewilding group. A band of volunteers were residing temporarily at the location, however the nightingales were so loud, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” comments an engagement lead. “We were all worn out the next day, but it was so amazing.” An specialist from the local conservation group came to help them capture and tag one of the songbirds the next morning, Cookson remembers: “He’d never held a songbird in his possession before. He was crying.”
Ecological Restoration Accelerates at the Surrey Site
Nature recovery is by its very essence a slow business, but here at Maple Farm, after only a short period, the changes are already visible, and audible. The land previously served as a haven for animals. Currently it’s a model for the youth-led mission: to speed up nature recovery, in one of the ecologically impoverished nations in the planet, and to link young people (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often denied access to, and a climate crisis they are often powerless to stop. Rising temperatures continues, deforestation destroys wildlife homes, and another international meeting draws to a frustrating conclusion in Brazil – so what person could fault young people for choosing to initiate change themselves?
The organisation was based on the notion that there were landowners ready to allow a collection of youthful amateurs on to their land
“The younger generation is the most knowledgeable ecologically that there’s ever been,” explains the Youngwilders’ co-director, a key figure. They are also “the deeply concerned in the problems, and have added the smallest part to their creation, and, then, are also going to suffer most as a consequence.”
Change of the Landscape
Today, the organisation is taking root across the UK – and the original site planted the seed, in every sense. “It’s where we started, and the place we created our network,” notes Molly Easton, as she provides a tour of the 12-hectare site. “This was previously multiple separate areas,” she comments, as we stroll through overgrown meadows dotted with shrubs, surrounded by mature woodland. “The main visible change is that we’ve taken out all the enclosures, 1.2km of it, to create the impression like one area.” In the warmer months, they wore hazmat suits and removed large amounts of invasive plants, an invasive species that can burn the flesh. “We’ve introduced loads of natural barriers,” says Easton. “But the main thing is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a brief period. We’ve reduced a lot of grazing pressure and noticed what’s come up.”
Low scrub and natural fences are a ideal nightingale environment, she explains, however today they’re managing some of the thorny plants to develop a increased variety of habitats and to link up different sections of the site. New trees will take a while to grow, but young trees from the nearby woodland are already establishing themselves in the fields; the crew have been installing guards to shield them from animals.
Wildlife Returns in Abundance
It’s not just the songbirds – animals is coming back in abundance. This year they’ve spotted reptiles, creatures, nocturnal mammals and insects, says Noah Bennett, as he uncovers one of their reptile mats (such as a cover over a indentation in the ground). “You find reptiles and things sheltering under there, but it’s possibly a bit cool for them now.” Wild beehives, constructed from empty sections of timber and humming with wild bees, are attached to some of the woodland. The removal of grazing horses has provided small creatures opportunity to flourish in the long grass. When they visited this season, comments Bennett, “I’d not ever seen so countless insects. There were just swarms of them. We were saying, ‘What is occurring?’”
Beginnings of the Project
The initial founders – Bennett, Durant, Molly and additional members – formed as students, pursuing or sharing an passion in environmental science. In that year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was indicating that the target of one and a half degrees of warming was looking unachievable, Greta Thunberg was guiding the youth protests for environmental action, and advocate Clover Hogan was discussing young people feeling “environmental stress”. It was also the time of Isabella Tree’s book, Wilding, on how she and her husband changed the Knepp Estate from a failing agricultural business into a flourishing wildlife haven. “We were super-inspired by the example, but what was the role for young people?” questions Molly. “So we made a website and contacted numerous of conservation groups and were saying, ‘Do you ever get your estate holders wishing to do something and you don’t have capacity?’”
Jack explains the narrative: “Our whole initiative was basically premised on the belief that there were individuals who were prepared to permit a bunch of youthful idiots on to their estate without strict rules, to take fairly massive actions that would impact land value
