That beautifully intricate song of the songbird is a rare sound in England these days, but it's different at this rural location. Four years ago, a lone bird could be heard at this secluded location in rural Surrey; lately, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them chirping all night, from five different territories,” notes a lead scientist, top biologist for the Youngwilders. A group of volunteers were camping out at the property, but the birds were so loud, “we stayed awake all night,” comments an engagement lead. “We were all knackered the next day, but it was so incredible.” An specialist from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them trap and mark one of the songbirds the next morning, Cookson recalls: “He’d never handled a songbird in his care before. He was teary.”
Rewilding Progresses at Maple Farm
Ecological restoration is by definition a lengthy process, but in this place at this property, after merely a short period, the changes are already apparent, and audible. The property used to be a sanctuary for animals. Today it’s a model for the youth-led mission: to accelerate nature recovery, in one of the ecologically impoverished countries in the world, and to connect youth (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often excluded from, and a environmental emergency they are often powerless to prevent. Rising temperatures persists, deforestation destroys ecosystems, and another international meeting ends with a disappointing outcome in Brazil – so what person could criticize the younger generation for choosing to initiate change themselves?
Our organisation was founded on the belief that there were landowners willing to permit a group of youthful enthusiasts on to their estate
“The younger generation is the best educated in terms of nature that there’s previously,” explains the group's leader, one organizer. They are also “the highly invested in the issues, and have contributed the minimal role to their origin, and, then, are also going to be affected most as a consequence.”
Transformation of the Landscape
Currently, the organisation is expanding across the UK – and Maple Farm was the beginning, in all respects. “It’s the initial project, and the place we built our network,” says another co-director, as she gives a overview of the 12-hectare site. “This used to be six different fields,” she says, as we stroll through long grass filled with low scrub, hemmed by mature woodland. “The main visual transformation is that we’ve taken out all the fencing, over a kilometer of it, to create the impression like a unified landscape.” In the summer, they used protective gear and eradicated large amounts of harmful weeds, an aggressive flora that can harm the body. “We’ve introduced many of natural barriers,” says she. “But the key action is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a brief period. We’ve eliminated a large part of grazing pressure and observed what’s sprung up.”
Low scrub and shrub lines are a ideal nightingale habitat, she explains, but currently they’re trimming some of the wild growth to establish a more diversity of habitats and to connect separate areas of the land. New trees will take a while to grow, but new growth from the adjacent trees are already taking root in the fields; the team have been setting up protectors to protect them from wildlife.
Nature Returns in Large Numbers
In addition to the songbirds – fauna is reappearing in droves. Recently they’ve spotted serpents, legless lizards, flyers and invertebrates, says Noah Bennett, as he uncovers one of their monitoring tools (such as a cover over a small hollow in the earth). “You discover snakes and wildlife residing under there, but it’s likely a bit cold for them now.” Wild homes, constructed from hollowed-out parts of timber and active with wild bees, are strapped to some of the plants. The removal of grazing horses has provided small creatures space to thrive in the meadows. When they came to this season, says he, “I’d never observed so many butterflies. There were just masses of them. We were saying, ‘What is happening?’”
Beginnings of the Project
The original participants – Bennett, Jack, Easton and two others – united as learners, focusing on or having an interest in environmental science. In 2019, the IPCC was forecasting that the safe limit of 1.5C of global heating was looking unachievable, Greta Thunberg was leading the youth protests for environmental action, and activist a speaker was addressing young people experiencing “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of a writer's work, on rewilding, on how she and her husband changed the Knepp Estate from a struggling farm into a flourishing ecosystem. “We were deeply influenced by the Knepp story, but what could be the role for youth?” asks Molly. “So we created a online presence and contacted many of wildlife trusts and were saying, ‘Do you sometimes get your landowners wanting to do something and you lack resources?’”
Jack explains the story: “Our entire organisation was essentially founded on the idea that there were landowners who were ready to allow a bunch of youthful amateurs on to their estate without strict rules, to take significant choices that would change land value
