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The beautifully intricate song of the nightingale is a rare sound in England these days, but it's different at the Surrey site. Four years ago, a lone bird could be detected at this secluded location in the countryside of Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them calling all night, from five different territories,” notes Meg Cookson, chief environmental expert for the Youngwilders. A group of volunteers were staying overnight at the property, however the birds were so loud, “we were unable to rest all night,” comments a project coordinator. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so cool.” An professional from the regional nature organization came to help them net and ring one of the songbirds the next morning, the ecologist recalls: “He’d never touched a nightingale in his possession before. He was emotional.”

Rewilding Accelerates at the Surrey Site

Ecological restoration is by nature a slow process, but at this site at the farm, after only several seasons, the results are already visible, and hearable. The farm previously served as a sanctuary for equines. Now it’s a example for the Youngwilders’ mission: to hasten nature recovery, in one of the ecologically impoverished nations in the planet, and to engage the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often shut out of, and a global warming issue they are often unable to prevent. Climate change continues, deforestation eliminates natural habitats, and one more international meeting draws to a disappointing outcome in the host country – so what person could criticize young people for wishing to initiate change themselves?

Our project was founded on the belief that there were individuals ready to allow a bunch of young enthusiasts on to their property

“The younger generation is the most knowledgeable in terms of nature that there’s previously,” explains the Youngwilders’ founder, a key figure. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the challenges, and have contributed the smallest part to their causing, and, then, are also going to experience consequences the worst as a consequence.”

Revitalization of the Landscape

Now, the organisation is taking root across the United Kingdom – and this location planted the seed, in every sense. “It’s our origin point, and the place we established our network,” says a founding member, as she provides a walkthrough of the 30-acre land. “This used to be multiple separate areas,” she comments, as we stroll through long grass featuring low scrub, bordered by forest. “The key visual difference is that we’ve eliminated all the fencing, over a kilometer of it, to make it feel like one environment.” In the recent season, they wore protective gear and cleared masses of giant hogweed, an aggressive flora that can burn the body. “We’ve introduced many of hedgerows,” explains Easton. “But the main thing is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a brief period. We’ve removed a significant amount of grazing pressure and noticed what’s come up.”

Underbrush and shrub lines are a excellent songbird habitat, she explains, although now they’re managing some of the brambles to establish a greater range of habitats and to connect different sections of the land. New trees will take much more time to grow, but young trees from the surrounding trees are already establishing themselves in the open areas; the team have been installing guards to shield them from grazing deer.

Nature Returns in Abundance

There's more than the songbirds – fauna is coming back in droves. Recently they’ve spotted grass snakes, creatures, bats and invertebrates, explains a team member, as he lifts up one of their monitoring tools (like a cover over a depression in the earth). “You get creatures and things hiding under there, but it’s probably a slightly chilly for them now.” Organic homes, made from hollowed-out pieces of wood and buzzing with insects, are strapped to some of the trees. The absence of livestock has given insects space to flourish in the overgrown areas. When they visited this summer, states he, “I’d never observed so many butterflies. There were just swarms of them. We were saying, ‘What is happening?’”

Inception of the Initiative

The initial founders – Bennett, Durant, Molly and two others – formed as learners, pursuing or expressing an concern in ecology. In the recent past, the IPCC was indicating that the safe limit of one and a half degrees of climate change was looking out of reach, the activist was guiding the demonstrations for climate movement, and activist a speaker was talking about youth experiencing “environmental stress”. It was also the period of a writer's book, on rewilding, on how the authors changed the Knepp Estate from a struggling agricultural business into a successful ecosystem. “We were deeply influenced by the Knepp story, but what could be the part for young people?” says Easton. “So we created a platform and called loads of wildlife trusts and were saying, ‘Do you occasionally get your property owners wanting to make changes and you lack resources?’”

Durant adds the account: “Our entire project was fundamentally premised on the belief that there were landowners who were willing to permit a group of youthful amateurs on to their estate freely, to make major actions that would affect land value