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The manically melodic melody of the songbird is a rare sound in the UK today, yet not at the Surrey site. Four years ago, a single bird could be heard at this hidden spot in the countryside of Surrey; this summer, they were everywhere. “We were hearing them singing all night, from several zones,” says one ecologist, top biologist for the eco-activist organization. A team of Youngwilders were camping out at the location, but the birds were so noisy, “we were unable to rest all night,” remarks a project coordinator. “We were all worn out the next day, but it was so cool.” An expert from the regional nature organization came to help them trap and mark one of the nightingales the next morning, she remembers: “He’d never held a nightingale in his care before. He was teary.”

Rewilding Speeds Up at the Surrey Site

Nature recovery is by nature a gradual process, but in this place at this property, after only four years, the changes are already apparent, and noticeable. The land was once a sanctuary for equines. Now it’s a model for the Youngwilders’ mission: to accelerate ecological restoration, in one of the ecologically impoverished countries in the world, and to connect the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a environment they are often denied access to, and a global warming issue they are often unable to stop. Rising temperatures persists, deforestation damages wildlife homes, and another climate conference comes to a disappointing conclusion in abroad – so what person could criticize young people for choosing to take matters into their own hands?

The project was based on the belief that there were people willing to allow a collection of youthful idiots on to their estate

“The youth is the best educated in terms of nature that there’s previously,” explains the Youngwilders’ co-director, Jack Durant. They are also “the deeply concerned in the problems, and have added the smallest part to their causing, and, then, are also going to experience consequences the worst as a consequence.”

Change of the Property

Now, the organisation is expanding across the United Kingdom – and this location was the beginning, in all respects. “It’s our origin point, and where we created our connections,” notes a founding member, as she provides a walkthrough of the 30-acre site. “This was previously six different fields,” she comments, as we move through overgrown meadows filled with shrubs, bordered by established trees. “The main noticeable difference is that we’ve eliminated all the enclosures, a significant length of it, to make it feel like one landscape.” In the summer, they used hazmat suits and removed large amounts of invasive plants, an non-native plant that can burn the body. “We’ve established loads of natural barriers,” notes she. “But the key action is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a short time. We’ve removed a lot of livestock impact and observed what’s sprung up.”

Underbrush and hedgerows are a perfect nightingale environment, she explains, although currently they’re managing some of the brambles to develop a increased diversity of habitats and to link up two parts of the land. New trees will take much more time to establish, but new growth from the adjacent woodland are already taking root in the open areas; the team have been installing barriers to safeguard them from animals.

Animals Returns in Droves

There's more than the songbirds – animals is reappearing in large numbers. Lately they’ve observed grass snakes, slowworms, nocturnal mammals and invertebrates, notes another co-director, as he lifts up one of their monitoring tools (similar to a cover over a small hollow in the ground). “You get reptiles and things sheltering under there, but it’s possibly a slightly chilly for them now.” Wild beehives, constructed from hollowed-out parts of wood and humming with insects, are attached to some of the trees. The removal of livestock has allowed small creatures opportunity to flourish in the meadows. When they visited this summer, says the director, “I’d never encountered so numerous insects. There were just masses of them. We were saying, ‘What is happening?’”

Beginnings of the Project

The initial Youngwilders – Noah, Jack, Molly and more individuals – came together as youth, focusing on or having an interest in nature. In 2019, the IPCC was forecasting that the safe limit of 1.5C of global heating was seeming unachievable, a prominent figure was guiding the school strikes for climate movement, and activist a speaker was addressing the generation suffering from “environmental stress”. It was also the era of a writer's book, Wilding, on how she and her husband revitalized the a nearby property from a failing farm into a successful ecosystem. “We were deeply influenced by the Knepp story, but what could be the role for the next generation?” says Easton. “So we created a online presence and rang up numerous of wildlife trusts and were saying, ‘Do you ever get your estate holders wanting to make changes and you lack capacity?’”

Durant adds the account: “Our entire organisation was fundamentally founded on the belief that there were people who were willing to let a collection of young enthusiasts on to their property freely, to make significant actions that would impact land value