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The manically melodic song of the nightingale is a uncommon presence in the UK nowadays, but it's different at the Surrey site. Back in 2020, a single bird could be detected at this secluded place in rural Surrey; this summer, they were everywhere. “We were hearing them singing all night, from multiple areas,” explains Meg Cookson, chief environmental expert for the eco-activist organization. A team of volunteers were camping out at the site, but the nightingales were so noisy, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” comments an engagement lead. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so cool.” An professional from the local conservation group came to help them trap and mark one of the songbirds the next morning, Cookson remembers: “He’d never touched a songbird in his hands before. He was emotional.”

Habitat Revival Progresses at the Surrey Site

Rewilding is by nature a gradual endeavor, but here at Maple Farm, after merely four years, the results are already visible, and hearable. The property used to be a haven for equines. Today it’s a model for the Youngwilders’ purpose: to speed up nature recovery, in one of the most nature-depleted nations in the planet, and to link youth (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often excluded from, and a global warming issue they are often powerless to halt. Global heating continues, deforestation destroys natural habitats, and yet another international meeting comes to a disappointing conclusion in the host country – so what person could criticize youth for choosing to act independently?

Our organisation was founded on the idea that there were landowners ready to let a bunch of young enthusiasts on to their property

“The younger generation is the most knowledgeable ecologically that there’s ever been,” states the group's leader, Jack Durant. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the challenges, and have added the minimal role to their creation, and, then, are also going to suffer most as a result.”

Change of the Property

Now, the organisation is expanding across the UK – and Maple Farm was the beginning, in every sense. “It’s where we started, and where we built our connections,” explains a founding member, as she provides a walkthrough of the 12-hectare property. “This once consisted of six different fields,” she comments, as we walk through tall vegetation dotted with low scrub, surrounded by established trees. “The main noticeable transformation is that we’ve eliminated all the fencing, over a kilometer of it, to create the impression like a unified landscape.” In the warmer months, they donned protective gear and eradicated masses of invasive plants, an invasive species that can irritate the skin. “We’ve established many of natural barriers,” explains the director. “But the key action is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a little bit. We’ve eliminated a lot of grazing pressure and seen what’s sprung up.”

Bushes and shrub lines are a perfect nightingale environment, she says, although now they’re trimming some of the wild growth to establish a greater range of ecosystems and to join two parts of the property. Young saplings will take considerably longer to grow, but saplings from the surrounding oaks are already taking root in the fields; the crew have been installing guards to shield them from animals.

Wildlife Returns in Large Numbers

It’s not just the songbirds – wildlife is returning in droves. Recently they’ve observed reptiles, slowworms, nocturnal mammals and insects, notes another co-director, as he lifts up one of their survey equipment (like a mat over a indentation in the earth). “You find reptiles and animals hiding under there, but it’s likely a slightly cool for them now.” Organic homes, made from hollowed-out sections of tree trunk and buzzing with insects, are strapped to some of the trees. The removal of grazing horses has allowed small creatures opportunity to prosper in the long grass. When they visited this summer, says Bennett, “I’d never seen so numerous insects. There were just masses of them. We were wondering, ‘What is going on?’”

Beginnings of the Project

The first founders – Bennett, Durant, Easton and additional members – formed as youth, studying or expressing an passion in ecology. In 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was indicating that the safe limit of one and a half degrees of climate change was looking out of reach, a prominent figure was guiding the youth protests for environmental action, and campaigner Clover Hogan was discussing youth feeling “eco-worry”. It was also the period of the author's book, on rewilding, on how the authors changed the Knepp Estate from a struggling dairy farm into a successful natural habitat. “We were super-inspired by the case study, but what was the role for young people?” says Easton. “So we created a website and called numerous of wildlife trusts and were like, ‘Do you sometimes get your estate holders seeking to do something and you don’t have time?’”

Durant adds the story: “Our whole initiative was basically based on the belief that there were landowners who were ready to allow a group of young idiots on to their land without strict rules, to make major decisions that would impact land value