The beautifully intricate melody of the nightingale is a rare presence in Britain today, but not at the Surrey site. Four years ago, a solitary nightingale could be noticed at this secluded place in the countryside of Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were hearing them singing all night, from five different territories,” says a lead scientist, chief environmental expert for the youth rewilding group. A group of participants were residing temporarily at the site, but the nightingales were so loud, “we stayed awake all night,” remarks an engagement lead. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so amazing.” An professional from the regional nature organization came to help them capture and tag one of the birds the next morning, Cookson states: “He’d never handled a nightingale in his hands before. He was crying.”
Habitat Revival Accelerates at the Surrey Site
Ecological restoration is by definition a lengthy process, but here at the farm, after just four years, the outcomes are already apparent, and audible. The farm previously served as a haven for equines. Now it’s a example for the Youngwilders’ mission: to accelerate habitat revival, in one of the most nature-depleted regions in the world, and to connect young people (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often excluded from, and a global warming issue they are often unable to halt. Climate change continues, habitat loss destroys natural habitats, and yet another climate conference draws to a disappointing conclusion in the host country – so who could blame the younger generation for wishing to take matters into their own hands?
Our project was founded on the belief that there were landowners prepared to allow a bunch of youthful amateurs on to their land
“The newer cohort is the most informed in terms of nature that there’s previously,” says the Youngwilders’ leader, a key figure. They are also “the highly invested in the issues, and have contributed the minimal role to their causing, and, then, are also going to suffer most as a consequence.”
Revitalization of the Landscape
Now, the group is expanding across the UK – and the original site planted the seed, in every sense. “It’s where we started, and the place we created our network,” explains another co-director, as she gives a tour of the 30-acre land. “This was previously divided plots,” she states, as we stroll through long grass featuring bushes, bordered by mature woodland. “The key visual transformation is that we’ve removed all the fencing, over a kilometer of it, to give the sense like a unified environment.” In the recent season, they donned special clothing and eradicated large amounts of invasive plants, an non-native plant that can irritate the skin. “We’ve introduced loads of natural barriers,” says Easton. “But the primary focus is we’ve just given it space for a little bit. We’ve reduced a significant amount of grazing pressure and seen what’s emerged.”
Bushes and hedgerows are a ideal nightingale home, she comments, however currently they’re managing some of the thorny plants to establish a more diversity of habitats and to link up two parts of the site. Fresh plantings will take much more time to grow, but young trees from the nearby oaks are already establishing themselves in the open areas; the team have been placing guards to safeguard them from wildlife.
Animals Returns in Abundance
There's more than the nightingales – fauna is returning in large numbers. Lately they’ve spotted reptiles, creatures, bats and bugs, notes Noah Bennett, as he raises one of their monitoring tools (such as a cover over a small hollow in the earth). “You discover snakes and wildlife residing under there, but it’s possibly a somewhat chilly for them now.” Wild beehives, built using empty sections of tree trunk and humming with insects, are strapped to some of the woodland. The removal of grazing horses has given insects room to prosper in the long grass. When they visited this season, comments Bennett, “I’d not ever encountered so many insects. There were just swarms of them. We were wondering, ‘What is happening?’”
Inception of the Movement
The initial Youngwilders – Bennett, Jack, Molly and additional members – united as youth, studying or having an concern in ecology. In that year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was predicting that the target of 1.5C of climate change was appearing impossible, a prominent figure was leading the school strikes for eco-awareness, and activist another voice was discussing young people experiencing “eco-worry”. It was also the period of the author's book, about nature recovery, on how she and her husband changed the Knepp Estate from a struggling agricultural business into a thriving natural habitat. “We were highly motivated by the case study, but what could be the function for youth?” says Easton. “So we created a online presence and contacted many of conservation groups and were like, ‘Do you occasionally get your estate holders seeking to take action and you lack time?’”
Jack continues the narrative: “Our entire project was fundamentally based on the idea that there were landowners who were ready to allow a bunch of young idiots on to their land without strict rules, to decide on major choices that would impact land value
