That beautifully intricate call of the songbird is a uncommon presence in England today, but it's different at this rural location. Previously, a solitary bird could be detected at this secluded place in the countryside of Surrey; recently, they were everywhere. “We were listening to them calling all night, from several zones,” explains a lead scientist, chief environmental expert for the eco-activist organization. A group of Youngwilders were residing temporarily at the property, but the birds were so boisterous, “we stayed awake all night,” comments an engagement lead. “We were all knackered the next day, but it was so cool.” An expert from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them net and ring one of the songbirds the next morning, the ecologist states: “He’d never touched a nightingale in his hands before. He was crying.”
Rewilding Accelerates at This Location
Rewilding is by definition a lengthy business, but here at this property, after merely four years, the results are already evident, and noticeable. The land used to be a retirement home for equines. Currently it’s a showpiece for the youth-led mission: to speed up ecological restoration, in one of the biodiversity-poor countries in the planet, and to engage youth (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often shut out of, and a global warming issue they are often powerless to prevent. Global heating advances, habitat loss damages natural habitats, and another climate conference comes to a unsatisfactory outcome in Brazil – so who could criticize young people for choosing to initiate change themselves?
Our project was premised on the belief that there were people prepared to allow a collection of young enthusiasts on to their land
“The younger generation is the best educated ecologically that there’s previously,” says the group's leader, Jack Durant. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the challenges, and have contributed the minimal role to their causing, and, then, are also going to experience consequences most as a consequence.”
Transformation of the Site
Today, the organisation is expanding across the UK – and this location planted the seed, in every sense. “It’s our origin point, and where we established our network,” says a founding member, as she offers a overview of the expansive property. “This used to be multiple separate areas,” she comments, as we walk through long grass featuring shrubs, surrounded by established trees. “The primary visible transformation is that we’ve eliminated all the enclosures, 1.2km of it, to create the impression like a unified environment.” In the summer, they donned hazmat suits and removed significant quantities of harmful weeds, an invasive species that can burn the body. “We’ve established loads of bush lines,” notes Easton. “But the key action is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a short time. We’ve eliminated a lot of animal feeding and noticed what’s come up.”
Underbrush and shrub lines are a perfect songbird home, she comments, however today they’re managing some of the thorny plants to establish a more range of environments and to connect separate areas of the site. Fresh plantings will take considerably longer to take root, but new growth from the nearby oaks are already growing in the open areas; the team have been setting up protectors to safeguard them from grazing deer.
Wildlife Returns in Abundance
In addition to the songbirds – fauna is returning in abundance. Lately they’ve seen serpents, legless lizards, nocturnal mammals and invertebrates, notes a team member, as he lifts up one of their reptile mats (like a doormat over a small hollow in the earth). “You discover creatures and things hiding under there, but it’s probably a somewhat cool for them now.” Natural nests, built using carved sections of timber and buzzing with wild bees, are attached to some of the trees. The lack of grazing horses has allowed small creatures space to flourish in the overgrown areas. When they explored this season, says Bennett, “I’d not once seen so many lepidoptera. There were just masses of them. We were like, ‘What is occurring?’”
Inception of the Project
The initial Youngwilders – Bennett, Durant, Molly and more individuals – united as students, pursuing or expressing an concern in ecology. In 2019, the IPCC was forecasting that the safe limit of one and a half degrees of warming was seeming out of reach, Greta Thunberg was leading the demonstrations for climate movement, and activist a speaker was discussing young people suffering from “climate anxiety”. It was also the period of Isabella Tree’s book, about nature recovery, on how they transformed the a Sussex location from a struggling farm into a flourishing natural habitat. “We were super-inspired by the case study, but what could be the part for youth?” asks Molly. “So we made a platform and called loads of environmental organizations and were like, ‘Do you ever get your property owners wanting to do something and you don’t have resources?’”
Durant adds the narrative: “Our entire organisation was fundamentally founded on the belief that there were individuals who were ready to allow a group of youthful amateurs on to their land without strict rules, to take major choices that would impact land value
