That richly complex call of the nightingale is a scarce occurrence in the UK these days, but it's different at the Surrey site. Back in 2020, a single nightingale could be noticed at this secluded location in the countryside of Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were hearing them calling all night, from five different territories,” explains one ecologist, chief environmental expert for the youth rewilding group. A group of participants were residing temporarily at the property, but the birds were so boisterous, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” says Layla Mapemba. “We were all worn out the next day, but it was so incredible.” An professional from the local conservation group came to help them trap and mark one of the nightingales the next morning, Cookson remembers: “He’d never held a songbird in his possession before. He was teary.”
Habitat Revival Accelerates at the Surrey Site
Rewilding is by definition a slow process, but at this site at this property, after merely four years, the outcomes are already visible, and hearable. The land was once a retirement home for animals. Now it’s a showpiece for the Youngwilders’ goal: to accelerate habitat revival, in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the planet, and to engage the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often denied access to, and a environmental emergency they are often unable to prevent. Climate change advances, habitat loss damages natural habitats, and another climate conference ends with a disappointing outcome in the host country – so what person could fault youth for choosing to initiate change themselves?
The initiative was founded on the notion that there were landowners prepared to permit a group of young amateurs on to their estate
“The younger generation is the most informed in terms of nature that there’s previously,” explains the group's founder, Jack Durant. They are also “the highly invested in the challenges, and have added the least to their origin, and, then, are also going to experience consequences most as a consequence.”
Change of the Landscape
Currently, the organisation is taking root across the Britain – and the original site planted the seed, in every sense. “It’s our origin point, and the place we created our network,” explains Molly Easton, as she provides a walkthrough of the 30-acre land. “This once consisted of multiple separate areas,” she comments, as we walk through overgrown meadows featuring low scrub, hemmed by mature woodland. “The main visual transformation is that we’ve taken out all the enclosures, a significant length of it, to make it feel like a single area.” In the warmer months, they donned protective gear and cleared large amounts of invasive plants, an aggressive flora that can burn the body. “We’ve introduced loads of bush lines,” notes Easton. “But the key action is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a brief period. We’ve reduced a lot of grazing pressure and noticed what’s emerged.”
Low scrub and hedgerows are a ideal nightingale environment, she explains, but today they’re cutting back some of the brambles to create a more diversity of environments and to connect different sections of the site. New trees will take much more time to take root, but young trees from the nearby oaks are already taking root in the fields; the group have been installing barriers to protect them from grazing deer.
Nature Reappears in Abundance
In addition to the nightingales – fauna is coming back in droves. Lately they’ve seen reptiles, creatures, bats and bugs, explains another co-director, as he lifts up one of their reptile mats (similar to a doormat over a indentation in the ground). “You find reptiles and things hiding under there, but it’s possibly a bit chilly for them now.” Natural homes, built using hollowed-out parts of tree trunk and buzzing with pollinators, are strapped to some of the trees. The removal of grazing horses has given invertebrates space to thrive in the overgrown areas. When they visited this time, comments he, “I’d not ever seen so many lepidoptera. There were just clouds of them. We were wondering, ‘What is going on?’”
Beginnings of the Movement
The original founders – Bennett, Durant, Molly and additional members – formed as students, focusing on or having an concern in ecology. In that year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was indicating that the target of one and a half degrees of global heating was seeming unachievable, a prominent figure was spearheading the demonstrations for eco-awareness, and campaigner Clover Hogan was discussing youth experiencing “environmental stress”. It was also the period of Isabella Tree’s publication, on rewilding, on how they changed the a nearby property from a struggling farm into a thriving ecosystem. “We were highly motivated by the Knepp story, but what could be the function for youth?” questions Easton. “So we developed a website and contacted loads of wildlife trusts and were asking, ‘Do you ever get your property owners seeking to do something and you don’t have time?’”
Durant continues the narrative: “Our complete project was essentially founded on the notion that there were landowners who were prepared to let a collection of youthful enthusiasts on to their estate freely, to take major decisions that would affect land value
