That beautifully intricate melody of the songbird is a scarce presence in Britain nowadays, however not at the Surrey site. Back in 2020, a single nightingale could be detected at this hidden spot in rural Surrey; this summer, they were all around. “We were hearing them calling all night, from multiple areas,” says a lead scientist, top biologist for the youth rewilding group. A team of Youngwilders were staying overnight at the site, but the birds were so noisy, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” says an engagement lead. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so cool.” An specialist from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them capture and tag one of the songbirds the next morning, she recalls: “He’d never touched a nightingale in his hands before. He was crying.”
Habitat Revival Progresses at the Surrey Site
Nature recovery is by definition a slow endeavor, but at this site at Maple Farm, after only four years, the changes are already apparent, and audible. The land previously served as a sanctuary for equines. Now it’s a example for the youth-led mission: to accelerate habitat revival, in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and to connect 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 persists, tree clearing destroys ecosystems, and one more climate conference ends with a unsatisfactory outcome in the host country – so what person could blame young people for choosing to act independently?
Our project was premised on the idea that there were landowners ready to permit a group of youthful amateurs on to their property
“The youth is the most informed in terms of nature that there’s previously,” says the group's founder, Jack Durant. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the problems, and have contributed the smallest part to their origin, and, then, are also going to be affected the worst as a result.”
Change of the Site
Now, the group is expanding across the UK – and this location was the beginning, in every sense. “It’s the initial project, and the place we established our connections,” notes Molly Easton, as she gives a overview of the expansive land. “This was previously multiple separate areas,” she states, as we move through long grass featuring bushes, bordered by forest. “The main noticeable change is that we’ve taken out all the barriers, a significant length of it, to give the sense like a single landscape.” In the recent season, they wore protective gear and removed large amounts of giant hogweed, an non-native plant that can irritate the flesh. “We’ve introduced many of bush lines,” notes Easton. “But the key action is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a short time. We’ve removed a lot of grazing pressure and seen what’s come up.”
Low scrub and hedgerows are a perfect nightingale environment, she comments, however now they’re trimming some of the thorny plants to develop a greater range of ecosystems and to connect two parts of the property. Fresh plantings will take much more time to grow, but saplings from the adjacent trees are already taking root in the open areas; the group have been setting up barriers to shield them from wildlife.
Nature Comes Back in Abundance
It’s not just the nightingales – wildlife is returning in droves. Lately they’ve observed reptiles, legless lizards, bats and invertebrates, explains another co-director, as he uncovers one of their survey equipment (similar to a doormat over a small hollow in the ground). “You get snakes and things residing under there, but it’s probably a somewhat cold for them now.” Natural homes, built using carved sections of tree trunk and buzzing with pollinators, are fixed to some of the woodland. The removal of grazing horses has provided small creatures room to flourish in the overgrown areas. When they came to this time, comments the director, “I’d not ever observed so numerous butterflies. There were just masses of them. We were wondering, ‘What is happening?’”
Origins of the Movement
The initial participants – Noah, Jack, Molly and additional members – formed as youth, studying or having an concern in environmental science. In 2019, the IPCC was predicting that the safe limit of 1.5C of warming was seeming unachievable, Greta Thunberg was leading the demonstrations for climate movement, and advocate Clover Hogan was talking about youth experiencing “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of a writer's publication, on rewilding, on how she and her husband revitalized the a Sussex location from a failing dairy farm into a flourishing ecosystem. “We were highly motivated by the example, but what could be the function for the next generation?” says Molly. “So we made a website and called many of environmental organizations and were asking, ‘Do you sometimes get your estate holders wishing to take action and you don’t have capacity?’”
Durant adds the story: “Our whole organisation was basically founded on the idea that there were people who were willing to allow a collection of youthful amateurs on to their property indiscriminately, to make fairly massive choices that would affect land value
