The richly complex song of the songbird is a scarce presence in England these days, but not at this rural location. Back in 2020, a single bird could be heard at this remote location in rural Surrey; recently, they were everywhere. “We were listening to them chirping all night, from multiple areas,” says Meg Cookson, chief environmental expert for the Youngwilders. A group of volunteers were camping out at the site, yet the nightingales were so noisy, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” comments Layla Mapemba. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so incredible.” An professional from the local conservation group came to help them net and ring one of the birds the next morning, she remembers: “He’d never touched a songbird in his possession before. He was emotional.”
Rewilding Progresses at the Surrey Site
Nature recovery is by definition a slow process, but here at the farm, after merely a short period, the changes are already visible, and noticeable. The land used to be a haven for equines. Currently it’s a showpiece for the youth-led purpose: to accelerate nature recovery, in one of the biodiversity-poor nations in the planet, and to engage the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often denied access to, and a climate crisis they are often unable to halt. Rising temperatures continues, habitat loss destroys ecosystems, and yet another climate conference comes to a unsatisfactory end in Brazil – so who could fault the younger generation for wishing to initiate change themselves?
The organisation was based on the belief that there were people prepared to let a collection of youthful idiots on to their property
“The younger generation is the most knowledgeable in terms of nature that there’s ever been,” states the Youngwilders’ leader, a key figure. They are also “the highly invested in the issues, and have played the least to their origin, and, then, are also going to be affected the greatest as a outcome.”
Change of the Site
Now, the organisation is expanding across the UK – and the original site started it all, in all respects. “It’s where we started, and where we established our network,” says a founding member, as she gives a walkthrough of the expansive site. “This used to be divided plots,” she comments, as we stroll through overgrown meadows filled with shrubs, bordered by forest. “The main visual difference is that we’ve taken out all the fencing, 1.2km of it, to make it feel like one area.” In the summer, they donned hazmat suits and cleared masses of harmful weeds, an aggressive flora that can harm the flesh. “We’ve planted numerous 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 livestock impact and seen what’s come up.”
Bushes and shrub lines are a excellent songbird habitat, she comments, but today they’re managing some of the brambles to establish a greater variety of ecosystems and to join two parts of the land. Young saplings will take considerably longer to grow, but saplings from the adjacent trees are already growing in the open areas; the crew have been installing barriers to safeguard them from animals.
Animals Returns in Abundance
In addition to the songbirds – fauna is returning in abundance. Lately they’ve seen reptiles, slowworms, nocturnal mammals and invertebrates, notes a team member, as he uncovers one of their monitoring tools (like a doormat over a depression in the soil). “You discover reptiles and things hiding under there, but it’s probably a slightly cold for them now.” Wild beehives, constructed from empty parts of tree trunk and buzzing with pollinators, are strapped to some of the trees. The removal of grazing horses has given invertebrates opportunity to prosper in the long grass. When they explored this time, comments Bennett, “I’d not ever seen so countless butterflies. There were just clouds of them. We were wondering, ‘What is occurring?’”
Inception of the Initiative
The initial Youngwilders – Noah, Durant, Molly and additional members – united as learners, pursuing or expressing an concern in environmental science. In 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was indicating that the safe limit of 1.5C of climate change was seeming impossible, a prominent figure was spearheading the school strikes for environmental action, and campaigner Clover Hogan was discussing young people experiencing “environmental stress”. It was also the era of Isabella Tree’s publication, on rewilding, on how the authors transformed the a nearby property from a struggling farm into a thriving ecosystem. “We were highly motivated by the Knepp story, but what could be the role for youth?” asks Molly. “So we developed a online presence and rang up numerous of wildlife trusts and were asking, ‘Do you occasionally get your property owners seeking to make changes and you don’t have resources?’”
Jack explains the story: “Our whole project was basically founded on the belief that there were landowners who were willing to allow a collection of young amateurs on to their estate freely, to decide on significant decisions that would affect land value
