That beautifully intricate call of the songbird is a uncommon presence in England these days, however not at this rural location. Four years ago, a lone bird could be detected at this secluded location in rural Surrey; recently, they were everywhere. “We were hearing them chirping all night, from five different territories,” notes Meg Cookson, chief environmental expert for the youth rewilding group. A group of participants were staying overnight at the location, but the nightingales were so noisy, “we stayed awake all night,” remarks a project coordinator. “We were all knackered the next day, but it was so amazing.” An professional from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them net and ring one of the songbirds the next morning, the ecologist remembers: “He’d never held a songbird in his care before. He was teary.”
Ecological Restoration Accelerates at Maple Farm
Rewilding is by nature a slow business, but here at the farm, after only four years, the results are already evident, and hearable. The land was once a retirement home for horses. Today it’s a model for the youth-led mission: to accelerate habitat revival, in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the planet, and to connect youth (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often excluded from, and a environmental emergency they are often ineffectual to prevent. Climate change advances, deforestation damages wildlife homes, and another international meeting draws to a frustrating conclusion in the host country – so what person could blame youth for choosing to take matters into their own hands?
The organisation was based on the idea that there were individuals willing to let a bunch of youthful enthusiasts on to their estate
“The youth is the most informed in terms of nature that there’s ever been,” states the group's co-director, Jack Durant. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the issues, and have contributed the minimal role to their origin, and, then, are also going to be affected the worst as a result.”
Revitalization of the Site
Currently, the initiative is growing across the UK – and the original site started it all, in every sense. “It’s our origin point, and the place we built our network,” says another co-director, as she provides a tour of the expansive site. “This was previously multiple separate areas,” she comments, as we move through long grass filled with low scrub, bordered by established trees. “The main noticeable change is that we’ve eliminated all the enclosures, 1.2km of it, to give the sense like one landscape.” In the warmer months, they wore protective gear and eradicated large amounts of giant hogweed, an invasive species that can irritate the body. “We’ve established numerous of hedgerows,” notes the director. “But the primary focus is we’ve just let it breathe for a short time. We’ve eliminated a lot of grazing pressure and noticed what’s sprung up.”
Low scrub and natural fences are a ideal songbird environment, she says, although currently they’re trimming some of the thorny plants to develop a greater range of habitats and to connect different sections of the land. New trees will take considerably longer to establish, but saplings from the adjacent woodland are already growing in the meadows; the team have been placing barriers to protect them from grazing deer.
Wildlife Returns in Abundance
In addition to the songbirds – animals is coming back in abundance. Lately they’ve observed reptiles, creatures, flyers and insects, explains Noah Bennett, as he raises one of their survey equipment (such as a mat over a depression in the earth). “You find reptiles and things residing under there, but it’s probably a somewhat chilly for them now.” Organic beehives, made from hollowed-out sections of timber and humming with wild bees, are attached to some of the plants. The absence of animals has allowed insects space to prosper in the long grass. When they explored this time, states Bennett, “I’d not ever encountered so many lepidoptera. There were just swarms of them. We were saying, ‘What is going on?’”
Origins of the Initiative
The initial founders – Bennett, Jack, Molly and more individuals – formed as learners, studying or expressing an concern in ecology. In that year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was forecasting that the safe limit of 1.5C of climate change was looking out of reach, Greta Thunberg was guiding the youth protests for climate movement, and advocate another voice was talking about youth feeling “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of a writer's book, about nature recovery, on how the authors transformed the Knepp Estate from a struggling dairy farm into a flourishing natural habitat. “We were highly motivated by the example, but what was the function for the next generation?” says Easton. “So we developed a platform and rang up many of wildlife trusts and were saying, ‘Do you ever get your property owners wanting to make changes and you are short on time?’”
Durant adds the story: “Our whole project was basically premised on the idea that there were people who were prepared to allow a group of youthful amateurs on to their property indiscriminately, to make fairly massive decisions that would impact land value
