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That richly complex song of the nightingale is a scarce occurrence in the UK these days, however it's different at Maple Farm. Previously, a single bird could be heard at this secluded location in the countryside of Surrey; this summer, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them chirping all night, from multiple areas,” explains a lead scientist, top biologist for the Youngwilders. A band of participants were residing temporarily at the property, but the birds were so loud, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” remarks an engagement lead. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so incredible.” An specialist from the regional nature organization came to help them trap and mark one of the birds the next morning, the ecologist recalls: “He’d never held a songbird in his care before. He was teary.”

Ecological Restoration Accelerates at Maple Farm

Rewilding is by definition a slow business, but at this site at this property, after just a short period, the results are already visible, and noticeable. The property previously served as a sanctuary for horses. Currently it’s a model for the Youngwilders’ purpose: to accelerate habitat revival, in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the planet, and to link young people (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often shut out of, and a environmental emergency they are often unable to stop. Rising temperatures persists, habitat loss eliminates wildlife homes, and one more climate conference ends with a unsatisfactory end in abroad – so who could blame young people for wishing to initiate change themselves?

Our initiative was premised on the belief that there were individuals ready to allow a group of young amateurs on to their property

“The newer cohort is the most knowledgeable environmentally that there’s historically,” says the group's founder, a key figure. They are also “the deeply concerned in the problems, and have added the minimal role to their origin, and, then, are also going to suffer the greatest as a outcome.”

Change of the Landscape

Today, the initiative is expanding across the UK – and the original site started it all, in multiple ways. “It’s the initial project, and where we established our connections,” says another co-director, as she gives a walkthrough of the 12-hectare property. “This used to be divided plots,” she comments, as we walk through tall vegetation filled with bushes, bordered by forest. “The key visual transformation is that we’ve eliminated all the fencing, 1.2km of it, to create the impression like a single environment.” In the recent season, they donned hazmat suits and eradicated significant quantities of invasive plants, an non-native plant that can burn the skin. “We’ve planted loads of natural barriers,” says the director. “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 emerged.”

Bushes and hedgerows are a perfect songbird environment, she comments, but today they’re cutting back some of the wild growth to create a more diversity of environments and to connect separate areas of the site. Fresh plantings will take much more time to take root, but young trees from the surrounding woodland are already taking root in the meadows; the team have been setting up protectors to protect them from wildlife.

Wildlife Reappears in Abundance

It’s not just the songbirds – animals is coming back in large numbers. Recently they’ve observed reptiles, slowworms, nocturnal mammals and insects, says Noah Bennett, as he lifts up one of their reptile mats (like a cover over a depression in the ground). “You discover snakes and wildlife sheltering under there, but it’s likely a bit chilly for them now.” Wild homes, made from hollowed-out parts of wood and active with pollinators, are fixed to some of the plants. The absence of livestock has given small creatures opportunity to thrive in the meadows. When they visited this summer, states he, “I’d never encountered so numerous butterflies. There were just masses of them. We were wondering, ‘What is going on?’”

Beginnings of the Initiative

The original Youngwilders – Bennett, Jack, Molly and two others – formed as students, focusing on or sharing an interest in environmental science. In 2019, the climate experts was indicating that the target of 1.5C of climate change was looking impossible, Greta Thunberg was leading the demonstrations for environmental action, and activist another voice was talking about young people experiencing “climate anxiety”. It was also the era of Isabella Tree’s work, on rewilding, on how they revitalized the Knepp Estate from a unsuccessful dairy farm into a successful wildlife haven. “We were highly motivated by the case study, but what was the part for young people?” asks Easton. “So we made a platform and called loads of wildlife trusts and were like, ‘Do you sometimes get your estate holders seeking to make changes and you are short on resources?’”

Durant adds the story: “Our whole initiative was essentially based on the notion that there were people who were prepared to allow a bunch of youthful amateurs on to their property indiscriminately, to take major choices that would change land value