The richly complex song of the songbird is a rare presence in the UK these days, however it's different at Maple Farm. Four years ago, a lone bird could be noticed at this hidden location in the countryside of Surrey; lately, they were everywhere. “We were listening to them calling all night, from several zones,” notes Meg Cookson, top biologist for the youth rewilding group. A band of volunteers were staying overnight at the property, yet the nightingales were so loud, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” remarks a project coordinator. “We were all worn out the next day, but it was so amazing.” An specialist from the local conservation group came to help them net and ring one of the nightingales the next morning, she remembers: “He’d never touched a songbird in his possession before. He was teary.”
Ecological Restoration Accelerates at the Surrey Site
Nature recovery is by nature a slow business, but at this site at this property, after only four years, the changes are already evident, and noticeable. The land previously served as a sanctuary for animals. Now it’s a showpiece for the youth-led mission: to speed up ecological restoration, in one of the most nature-depleted regions in the planet, and to connect youth (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often denied access to, and a environmental emergency they are often ineffectual to prevent. Climate change advances, tree clearing damages wildlife homes, and one more Cop summit comes to a disappointing end in the host country – so what person could fault the younger generation for wanting to act independently?
The organisation was premised on the notion that there were landowners prepared to let a bunch of young amateurs on to their property
“The younger generation is the most knowledgeable in terms of nature that there’s historically,” explains the group's founder, one organizer. They are also “the highly invested in the problems, and have contributed the smallest part to their origin, and, then, are also going to suffer the greatest as a result.”
Revitalization of the Landscape
Currently, the group is growing across the Britain – and this location was the beginning, in multiple ways. “It’s the initial project, and the place we built our connections,” says Molly Easton, as she gives a tour of the 12-hectare land. “This used to be divided plots,” she says, as we stroll through overgrown meadows dotted with bushes, bordered by established trees. “The main noticeable transformation is that we’ve removed all the fencing, over a kilometer of it, to create the impression like one area.” In the summer, they donned protective gear and cleared masses of harmful weeds, an aggressive flora that can irritate the skin. “We’ve established loads of hedgerows,” says Easton. “But the key action is we’ve just let it breathe for a short time. We’ve removed a lot of grazing pressure and observed what’s emerged.”
Low scrub and natural fences are a perfect nightingale habitat, she comments, however now they’re trimming some of the thorny plants to establish a more range of environments and to connect two parts of the property. Fresh plantings will take a while to grow, but saplings from the nearby woodland are already growing in the open areas; the crew have been placing barriers to protect them from grazing deer.
Wildlife Comes Back in Abundance
It’s not just the nightingales – wildlife is returning in large numbers. Lately they’ve spotted grass snakes, creatures, bats and insects, explains another co-director, as he uncovers one of their survey equipment (like a doormat over a indentation in the soil). “You discover reptiles and animals sheltering under there, but it’s possibly a slightly cold for them now.” Organic homes, built using carved pieces of timber and buzzing with wild bees, are fixed to some of the woodland. The lack of animals has provided small creatures space to flourish in the long grass. When they came to this summer, states Bennett, “I’d never encountered so numerous lepidoptera. There were just swarms of them. We were saying, ‘What is occurring?’”
Origins of the Movement
The initial founders – Bennett, Jack, Molly and two others – united as learners, focusing on or expressing an concern in ecology. In 2019, the IPCC was indicating that the target of 1.5C of global heating was seeming out of reach, a prominent figure was guiding the demonstrations for climate movement, and activist another voice was addressing the generation experiencing “climate anxiety”. It was also the era of Isabella Tree’s publication, Wilding, on how they transformed the Knepp Estate from a failing dairy farm into a successful wildlife haven. “We were highly motivated by the Knepp story, but what could be the part for the next generation?” says Molly. “So we made a online presence and rang up numerous of conservation groups and were saying, ‘Do you ever get your property owners wanting to do something and you don’t have resources?’”
Jack continues the narrative: “Our complete project was basically founded on the belief that there were landowners who were prepared to permit a collection of youthful enthusiasts on to their property freely, to take major actions that would impact land value
