The beautifully intricate call of the nightingale is a uncommon occurrence in the UK nowadays, yet not at Maple Farm. Back in 2020, a lone bird could be noticed at this remote place in rural Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were hearing them calling all night, from multiple areas,” says one ecologist, lead ecologist for the youth rewilding group. A band of Youngwilders were staying overnight at the location, however the birds were so loud, “we were unable to rest all night,” comments an engagement lead. “We were all worn out the next day, but it was so amazing.” An specialist from the local conservation group came to help them trap and mark one of the birds the next morning, Cookson states: “He’d never handled a songbird in his possession before. He was emotional.”
Ecological Restoration Progresses at Maple Farm
Ecological restoration is by definition a gradual process, but at this site at this property, after just several seasons, the changes are already visible, and noticeable. The land used to be a haven for equines. Currently it’s a model for the Youngwilders’ mission: to accelerate habitat revival, in one of the most nature-depleted regions in the world, and to connect the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often excluded from, and a environmental emergency they are often powerless to halt. Climate change persists, tree clearing damages natural habitats, and another international meeting ends with a unsatisfactory end in Brazil – so what person could criticize young people for choosing to act independently?
The initiative was based on the notion that there were people ready to allow a collection of young amateurs on to their property
“The youth is the best educated environmentally that there’s previously,” states the group's leader, Jack Durant. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the issues, and have contributed the minimal role to their creation, and, then, are also going to experience consequences the greatest as a outcome.”
Transformation of the Landscape
Today, the group is taking root across the Britain – and this location planted the seed, in multiple ways. “It’s the initial project, and where we established our community,” says another co-director, as she gives a tour of the 12-hectare land. “This used to be six different fields,” she says, as we stroll through long grass dotted with bushes, surrounded by forest. “The primary visible transformation is that we’ve taken out all the enclosures, 1.2km of it, to create the impression like a single landscape.” In the recent season, they wore special clothing and cleared large amounts of giant hogweed, an aggressive flora that can burn the skin. “We’ve introduced many of bush lines,” explains she. “But the main thing is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a brief period. We’ve reduced a large part of animal feeding and observed what’s come up.”
Low scrub and natural fences are a perfect nightingale environment, she explains, however now they’re cutting back some of the wild growth to create a greater variety of ecosystems and to link up separate areas of the site. Young saplings will take a while to establish, but saplings from the adjacent woodland are already establishing themselves in the open areas; the team have been setting up guards to protect them from wildlife.
Wildlife Reappears in Droves
It’s not just the songbirds – animals is reappearing in large numbers. This year they’ve seen grass snakes, creatures, flyers and bugs, explains a team member, as he uncovers one of their survey equipment (such as a doormat over a depression in the ground). “You get snakes and animals residing under there, but it’s likely a slightly cool for them now.” Natural beehives, built using hollowed-out sections of timber and active with insects, are attached to some of the plants. The lack of grazing horses has allowed small creatures opportunity to prosper in the overgrown areas. When they explored this summer, comments he, “I’d not ever observed so numerous lepidoptera. There were just swarms of them. We were saying, ‘What is going on?’”
Origins of the Movement
The first participants – Bennett, Durant, Molly and two others – came together as students, studying or sharing an concern in nature. In 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was forecasting that the acceptable threshold of one and a half degrees of global heating was appearing out of reach, Greta Thunberg was guiding the demonstrations for climate movement, and campaigner a speaker was discussing youth suffering from “environmental stress”. It was also the time of a writer's book, on rewilding, on how she and her husband changed the a nearby property from a failing farm into a flourishing wildlife haven. “We were super-inspired by the case study, but what could be the part for young people?” says Molly. “So we made a website and contacted many of wildlife trusts and were asking, ‘Do you ever get your property owners wishing to do something and you don’t have resources?’”
Durant adds the narrative: “Our whole project was fundamentally based on the idea that there were people who were willing to permit a collection of youthful amateurs on to their property without strict rules, to make fairly massive decisions that would impact land value
