The manically melodic call of the nightingale is a scarce sound in Britain nowadays, however it's different at this rural location. Back in 2020, a solitary nightingale could be heard at this hidden spot in rural Surrey; this summer, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them singing all night, from several zones,” explains one ecologist, top biologist for the youth rewilding group. A band of volunteers were staying overnight at the site, however the nightingales were so boisterous, “we were unable to rest all night,” remarks Layla Mapemba. “We were all knackered the next day, but it was so incredible.” An expert from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them net and ring one of the songbirds the next morning, she remembers: “He’d never handled a nightingale in his hands before. He was emotional.”
Rewilding Progresses at the Surrey Site
Rewilding is by nature a gradual process, but here at the farm, after only four years, the outcomes are already visible, and audible. The property was once a haven for horses. Now it’s a model for the Youngwilders’ goal: to hasten habitat revival, in one of the biodiversity-poor regions in the world, and to link young people (18-30-year-olds) with a natural world they are often denied access to, and a environmental emergency they are often powerless to halt. Global heating continues, habitat loss destroys ecosystems, and another Cop summit ends with a disappointing conclusion in the host country – so what person could criticize young people for choosing to initiate change themselves?
The organisation was premised on the idea that there were individuals ready to let a group of young enthusiasts on to their property
“The youth is the most knowledgeable in terms of nature that there’s previously,” states the group's leader, one organizer. They are also “the deeply concerned in the problems, and have played the minimal role to their origin, and, then, are also going to be affected the greatest as a consequence.”
Transformation of the Landscape
Now, the initiative is taking root across the Britain – and the original site planted the seed, in multiple ways. “It’s the initial project, and the place we established our community,” says a founding member, as she provides a tour of the expansive property. “This once consisted of multiple separate areas,” she comments, as we move through overgrown meadows filled with shrubs, hemmed by forest. “The primary visual transformation is that we’ve eliminated all the enclosures, a significant length of it, to make it feel like a single area.” In the recent season, they donned protective gear and eradicated significant quantities of invasive plants, an invasive species that can irritate the body. “We’ve planted loads of bush lines,” says Easton. “But the key action is we’ve just given it space for a short time. We’ve eliminated a lot of animal feeding and observed what’s emerged.”
Low scrub and natural fences are a excellent nightingale habitat, she comments, however now they’re trimming some of the brambles to develop a increased variety of environments and to join separate areas of the site. New trees will take much more time to establish, but new growth from the nearby trees are already growing in the meadows; the crew have been setting up barriers to safeguard them from wildlife.
Wildlife Comes Back in Droves
In addition to the songbirds – wildlife is returning in droves. Recently they’ve spotted serpents, legless lizards, flyers and invertebrates, says a team member, as he uncovers one of their survey equipment (similar to a doormat over a small hollow in the ground). “You find creatures and things hiding under there, but it’s likely a bit chilly for them now.” Natural beehives, constructed from empty pieces of timber and humming with wild bees, are attached to some of the trees. The removal of grazing horses has given invertebrates room to prosper in the overgrown areas. When they visited this season, comments he, “I’d never encountered so numerous insects. There were just masses of them. We were like, ‘What is going on?’”
Beginnings of the Movement
The initial Youngwilders – Bennett, Jack, Molly and two others – came together as youth, focusing on or expressing an interest in environmental science. In 2019, the IPCC was indicating that the safe limit of one and a half degrees of climate change was appearing impossible, a prominent figure was leading the youth protests for environmental action, and advocate Clover Hogan was addressing the generation feeling “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of a writer's publication, Wilding, on how the authors transformed the a Sussex location from a struggling dairy farm into a flourishing natural habitat. “We were super-inspired by the Knepp story, but what was the part for young people?” asks Easton. “So we developed a website and rang up loads of wildlife trusts and were asking, ‘Do you ever get your property owners wishing to make changes and you are short on capacity?’”
Durant continues the narrative: “Our complete initiative was basically founded on the notion that there were individuals who were prepared to allow a group of youthful amateurs on to their property indiscriminately, to decide on significant choices that would change land value
