That richly complex melody of the nightingale is a rare occurrence in the UK these days, but it's different at this rural location. Previously, a solitary 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,” explains Meg Cookson, top biologist for the eco-activist organization. A group of volunteers were staying overnight at the location, but the birds were so boisterous, “we stayed awake all night,” remarks an engagement lead. “We were all worn out the next day, but it was so amazing.” An expert from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them net and ring one of the nightingales the next morning, the ecologist recalls: “He’d never held a songbird in his care before. He was emotional.”
Habitat Revival Speeds Up at This Location
Nature recovery is by definition a gradual endeavor, but here at this property, after merely four years, the outcomes are already visible, and audible. The property used to be a retirement home for horses. Today it’s a model for the Youngwilders’ purpose: to accelerate habitat revival, in one of the ecologically impoverished regions in the globe, and to connect young people (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often denied access to, and a global warming issue they are often ineffectual to halt. Global heating advances, deforestation eliminates natural habitats, and yet another international meeting draws to a disappointing end in Brazil – so who could blame the younger generation for wishing to take matters into their own hands?
Our initiative was premised on the idea that there were people prepared to let a bunch of young idiots on to their property
“The newer cohort is the most knowledgeable environmentally that there’s historically,” says the group's co-director, one organizer. They are also “the deeply concerned in the challenges, and have contributed the smallest part to their creation, and, then, are also going to be affected the greatest as a result.”
Transformation of the Landscape
Now, the initiative is taking root across the United Kingdom – and Maple Farm started it all, in every sense. “It’s the initial project, and the place we built our network,” says a founding member, as she provides a overview of the 30-acre site. “This once consisted of six different fields,” she states, as we stroll through overgrown meadows filled with bushes, surrounded by established trees. “The primary visible change is that we’ve eliminated all the barriers, a significant length of it, to give the sense like a single area.” In the recent season, they used special clothing and eradicated masses of invasive plants, an non-native plant that can irritate the skin. “We’ve introduced loads of bush lines,” says Easton. “But the key action is we’ve just let it breathe for a short time. We’ve reduced a lot of grazing pressure and noticed what’s sprung up.”
Bushes and shrub lines are a perfect songbird environment, she says, but currently they’re trimming some of the wild growth to establish a greater variety of habitats and to join separate areas of the property. New trees will take a while to establish, but young trees from the adjacent woodland are already taking root in the meadows; the team have been installing barriers to shield them from wildlife.
Nature Returns in Droves
There's more than the nightingales – wildlife is coming back in abundance. Recently they’ve observed serpents, slowworms, nocturnal mammals and insects, explains Noah Bennett, as he raises one of their monitoring tools (such as a doormat over a depression in the soil). “You find reptiles and wildlife hiding under there, but it’s likely a bit chilly for them now.” Wild beehives, constructed from hollowed-out pieces of timber and buzzing with pollinators, are strapped to some of the plants. The lack of grazing horses has allowed insects opportunity to flourish in the overgrown areas. When they came to this season, comments Bennett, “I’d not once seen so many insects. There were just clouds of them. We were like, ‘What is happening?’”
Origins of the Movement
The first Youngwilders – Bennett, Durant, Molly and two others – formed as learners, studying or having an concern in nature. In that year, the climate experts was predicting that the safe limit of 1.5C of climate change was looking unachievable, Greta Thunberg was guiding the school strikes for environmental action, and activist Clover Hogan was discussing young people suffering from “climate anxiety”. It was also the era of the author's book, about nature recovery, on how they changed the a Sussex location from a failing dairy farm into a successful natural habitat. “We were super-inspired by the case study, but what could be the role for the next generation?” asks Easton. “So we created a website and called loads of wildlife trusts and were like, ‘Do you sometimes get your estate holders wishing to make changes and you lack resources?’”
Jack continues the narrative: “Our entire initiative was basically based on the idea that there were landowners who were willing to let a bunch of youthful idiots on to their estate indiscriminately, to make significant decisions that would change land value
