The beautifully intricate song of the songbird is a uncommon presence in the UK these days, however not at the Surrey site. Back in 2020, a lone bird could be heard at this hidden spot in the countryside of Surrey; this summer, they were all around. “We were hearing them calling all night, from five different territories,” notes a lead scientist, top biologist for the eco-activist organization. A group of Youngwilders were staying overnight at the location, yet the birds were so loud, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” says an engagement lead. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so cool.” An expert from the regional nature organization came to help them capture and tag one of the nightingales the next morning, the ecologist recalls: “He’d never held a songbird in his care before. He was crying.”
Rewilding Accelerates at the Surrey Site
Rewilding is by definition a slow process, but in this place at the farm, after just four years, the outcomes are already apparent, and noticeable. The farm previously served as a retirement home for equines. Today it’s a showpiece for the youth-led goal: to speed up nature recovery, in one of the most nature-depleted regions in the world, 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 ineffectual to halt. Climate change advances, tree clearing eliminates natural habitats, and yet another Cop summit ends with a frustrating conclusion in Brazil – so who could criticize youth for wanting to take matters into their own hands?
Our organisation was founded on the notion that there were landowners prepared to let a collection of youthful enthusiasts on to their estate
“The youth is the most informed ecologically that there’s historically,” states the Youngwilders’ co-director, a key figure. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the challenges, and have added the least to their creation, and, then, are also going to experience consequences the greatest as a outcome.”
Transformation of the Landscape
Currently, the organisation is growing across the United Kingdom – and this location planted the seed, in all respects. “It’s our origin point, and the place we created our network,” notes another co-director, as she gives a overview of the 12-hectare site. “This was previously divided plots,” she comments, as we walk through overgrown meadows featuring low scrub, hemmed by mature woodland. “The main visible transformation is that we’ve removed all the enclosures, a significant length of it, to create the impression like a single landscape.” In the warmer months, they wore protective gear and removed masses of invasive plants, an invasive species that can harm the flesh. “We’ve planted many of hedgerows,” explains Easton. “But the key action is we’ve just let it breathe for a little bit. We’ve removed a significant amount of animal feeding and noticed what’s sprung up.”
Underbrush and shrub lines are a excellent nightingale environment, she comments, however now they’re managing some of the thorny plants to develop a greater range of habitats and to join two parts of the land. Young saplings will take considerably longer to grow, but young trees from the surrounding oaks are already growing in the meadows; the group have been placing guards to safeguard them from animals.
Wildlife Returns in Large Numbers
There's more than the nightingales – fauna is coming back in droves. This year they’ve observed reptiles, slowworms, bats and bugs, notes another co-director, as he uncovers one of their reptile mats (like a mat over a indentation in the soil). “You discover reptiles and animals sheltering under there, but it’s possibly a slightly chilly for them now.” Wild nests, built using hollowed-out pieces of wood and buzzing with insects, are fixed to some of the trees. The removal of animals has allowed small creatures space to prosper in the long grass. When they explored this time, comments he, “I’d not once seen so many lepidoptera. There were just masses of them. We were wondering, ‘What is going on?’”
Origins of the Movement
The first Youngwilders – Noah, Durant, Easton and more individuals – formed as youth, studying or sharing an concern in environmental science. In 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was forecasting that the acceptable threshold of one and a half degrees of global heating was looking unachievable, a prominent figure was spearheading the school strikes for environmental action, and campaigner Clover Hogan was talking about youth experiencing “eco-worry”. It was also the period of a writer's publication, Wilding, on how she and her husband changed the a nearby property from a unsuccessful agricultural business into a thriving natural habitat. “We were highly motivated by the Knepp story, but what was the part for youth?” asks Easton. “So we developed a platform and rang up many of wildlife trusts and were saying, ‘Do you sometimes get your landowners wishing to make changes and you are short on resources?’”
Jack continues the account: “Our whole initiative was fundamentally based on the notion that there were people who were ready to let a collection of young amateurs on to their property indiscriminately, to decide on major choices that would affect land value
