The beautifully intricate call of the nightingale is a uncommon presence in Britain nowadays, but not at this rural location. Back in 2020, a solitary nightingale could be detected at this secluded place in the countryside of Surrey; recently, they were everywhere. “We were listening to them calling all night, from several zones,” notes Meg Cookson, top biologist for the eco-activist organization. A team of volunteers were residing temporarily at the location, however the nightingales were so loud, “we stayed awake all night,” comments a project coordinator. “We were all knackered the next day, but it was so amazing.” An professional from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them trap and mark one of the songbirds the next morning, Cookson states: “He’d never held a nightingale in his possession before. He was crying.”
Rewilding Speeds Up at the Surrey Site
Nature recovery is by its very essence a gradual business, but in this place at this property, after only several seasons, the outcomes are already visible, and audible. The land used to be a sanctuary for equines. Today it’s a showpiece for the Youngwilders’ purpose: to accelerate nature recovery, in one of the most nature-depleted nations in the world, and to engage young people (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often denied access to, and a environmental emergency they are often powerless to prevent. Rising temperatures persists, tree clearing damages natural habitats, and one more climate conference draws to a disappointing outcome in the host country – so who could criticize youth for choosing to take matters into their own hands?
The project was based on the belief that there were people ready to permit a group of youthful enthusiasts on to their property
“The newer cohort is the best educated in terms of nature that there’s ever been,” states the group's leader, a key figure. They are also “the deeply concerned in the issues, and have contributed the smallest part to their origin, and, then, are also going to experience consequences the worst as a result.”
Change of the Property
Today, the organisation is taking root across the UK – and the original site planted the seed, in every sense. “It’s where we started, and where we built our network,” explains another co-director, as she gives a walkthrough of the 30-acre property. “This used to be divided plots,” she says, as we walk through long grass featuring bushes, surrounded by established trees. “The main noticeable transformation is that we’ve taken out all the barriers, a significant length of it, to give the sense like a single area.” In the recent season, they wore hazmat suits and cleared significant quantities of giant hogweed, an non-native plant that can burn the body. “We’ve established many of bush lines,” says she. “But the main thing is we’ve just given it space for a short time. We’ve reduced a significant amount of animal feeding and observed what’s emerged.”
Low scrub and hedgerows are a excellent nightingale habitat, she explains, but now they’re trimming some of the thorny plants to establish a more range of environments and to join two parts of the site. New trees will take a while to take root, but saplings from the adjacent woodland are already establishing themselves in the open areas; the team have been setting up protectors to shield them from grazing deer.
Nature Reappears in Abundance
It’s not just the songbirds – wildlife is reappearing in abundance. Lately they’ve spotted grass snakes, legless lizards, bats and bugs, explains another co-director, as he lifts up one of their survey equipment (such as a mat over a small hollow in the earth). “You find reptiles and animals sheltering under there, but it’s likely a bit cold for them now.” Organic nests, constructed from empty parts of timber and buzzing with pollinators, are fixed to some of the plants. The removal of livestock has allowed invertebrates room to flourish in the overgrown areas. When they explored this season, states the director, “I’d not ever encountered so numerous insects. There were just masses of them. We were wondering, ‘What is going on?’”
Beginnings of the Initiative
The original founders – Noah, Jack, Molly and two others – formed as youth, pursuing or sharing an interest in ecology. In the recent past, the climate experts was forecasting that the acceptable threshold of one and a half degrees of climate change was seeming impossible, the activist was leading the youth protests for eco-awareness, and advocate another voice was talking about youth suffering from “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of Isabella Tree’s book, Wilding, on how the authors revitalized the a nearby property from a struggling agricultural business into a successful natural habitat. “We were highly motivated by the example, but what was the role for the next generation?” asks Easton. “So we created a website and rang up loads of environmental organizations and were asking, ‘Do you occasionally get your landowners wanting to do something and you lack resources?’”
Durant adds the narrative: “Our whole project was essentially premised on the belief that there were people who were prepared to let a bunch of young enthusiasts on to their estate without strict rules, to take major decisions that would impact land value
