That manically melodic call of the nightingale is a scarce presence in the UK today, but not at Maple Farm. Back in 2020, a single nightingale could be heard at this secluded place in the countryside of Surrey; lately, they were all around. “We were hearing them calling all night, from five different territories,” says Meg Cookson, top biologist for the youth rewilding group. A team of participants were staying overnight at the location, but the nightingales were so noisy, “we stayed awake all night,” remarks Layla Mapemba. “We were all knackered the next day, but it was so incredible.” An specialist from the local conservation group came to help them trap and mark one of the songbirds the next morning, Cookson recalls: “He’d never touched a songbird in his hands before. He was crying.”
Rewilding Speeds Up at the Surrey Site
Rewilding is by nature a lengthy process, but at this site at the farm, after only four years, the changes are already apparent, and noticeable. The farm previously served as a haven for horses. Today it’s a showpiece for the Youngwilders’ purpose: to hasten nature recovery, in one of the ecologically impoverished countries in the world, and to engage young people (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often excluded from, and a global warming issue they are often ineffectual to stop. Climate change continues, tree clearing eliminates ecosystems, and yet another climate conference ends with a disappointing end in Brazil – so who could fault the younger generation for wanting to initiate change themselves?
Our project was premised on the notion that there were landowners ready to permit a bunch of youthful amateurs on to their estate
“The younger generation is the best educated ecologically that there’s historically,” states the group's leader, one organizer. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the challenges, and have contributed the least to their origin, and, then, are also going to suffer the greatest as a consequence.”
Transformation of the Landscape
Today, the organisation is expanding across the UK – and this location started it all, in every sense. “It’s our origin point, and the place we established our connections,” explains a founding member, as she provides a walkthrough of the 12-hectare property. “This was previously multiple separate areas,” she comments, as we stroll through tall vegetation dotted with low scrub, bordered by mature woodland. “The primary noticeable difference is that we’ve eliminated all the enclosures, over a kilometer of it, to create the impression like one environment.” In the recent season, they wore hazmat suits and removed masses of giant hogweed, an aggressive flora that can irritate the body. “We’ve established many of natural barriers,” notes the director. “But the primary focus is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a little bit. We’ve reduced a significant amount of grazing pressure and noticed what’s come up.”
Bushes and natural fences are a excellent songbird environment, she comments, although now they’re cutting back some of the brambles to develop a greater variety of ecosystems and to connect two parts of the property. Fresh plantings will take a while to establish, but young trees from the surrounding woodland are already taking root in the open areas; the group have been installing guards to safeguard them from animals.
Nature Returns in Droves
There's more than the songbirds – fauna is returning in large numbers. Recently they’ve spotted reptiles, legless lizards, nocturnal mammals and invertebrates, notes a team member, as he uncovers one of their reptile mats (similar to a cover over a small hollow in the ground). “You discover snakes and things residing under there, but it’s probably a bit chilly for them now.” Organic nests, made from hollowed-out pieces of timber and active with wild bees, are strapped to some of the trees. The absence of grazing horses has allowed invertebrates opportunity to prosper in the overgrown areas. When they explored this season, says the director, “I’d not once observed so countless insects. There were just swarms of them. We were saying, ‘What is occurring?’”
Origins of the Project
The initial participants – Noah, Jack, Molly and two others – came together as learners, pursuing or expressing an interest in ecology. In that year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was indicating that the acceptable threshold of 1.5C of global heating was looking out of reach, the activist was spearheading the school strikes for environmental action, and campaigner another voice was addressing young people experiencing “eco-worry”. It was also the era of a writer's work, Wilding, on how the authors revitalized the a nearby property from a unsuccessful agricultural business into a flourishing natural habitat. “We were super-inspired by the Knepp story, but what was the role for youth?” says Easton. “So we created a platform and called many of conservation groups and were asking, ‘Do you ever get your property owners wanting to make changes and you lack resources?’”
Jack adds the account: “Our complete organisation was fundamentally based on the belief that there were people who were ready to allow a group of youthful amateurs on to their property freely, to take significant decisions that would change land value
