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That manically melodic call of the songbird is a scarce sound in the UK nowadays, but not at this rural location. Four years ago, a solitary bird could be noticed at this hidden location in rural Surrey; this summer, they were everywhere. “We were listening to them chirping all night, from five different territories,” explains Meg Cookson, chief environmental expert for the Youngwilders. A band of volunteers were residing temporarily at the site, but the nightingales were so noisy, “we were unable to rest all night,” says Layla Mapemba. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so incredible.” An specialist from the local conservation group came to help them net and ring one of the birds the next morning, she remembers: “He’d never handled a songbird in his care before. He was crying.”

Habitat Revival Speeds Up at Maple Farm

Ecological restoration is by nature a slow process, but at this site at this property, after just a short period, the outcomes are already evident, and noticeable. The land used to be a sanctuary for equines. Today it’s a model for the Youngwilders’ mission: to hasten nature recovery, in one of the ecologically impoverished regions in the planet, and to connect young people (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often excluded from, and a global warming issue they are often unable to stop. Rising temperatures persists, habitat loss eliminates ecosystems, and yet another international meeting comes to a disappointing conclusion in Brazil – so what person could blame the younger generation for wishing to act independently?

The project was founded on the belief that there were landowners willing to let a bunch of young idiots on to their property

“The newer cohort is the most informed in terms of nature that there’s historically,” explains the Youngwilders’ co-director, a key figure. They are also “the deeply concerned in the challenges, and have added the minimal role to their causing, and, then, are also going to be affected most as a result.”

Transformation of the Landscape

Today, the initiative is taking root across the UK – and Maple Farm planted the seed, in every sense. “It’s where we started, and the place we built our network,” explains another co-director, as she provides a tour of the expansive site. “This used to be divided plots,” she says, as we move through tall vegetation dotted with low scrub, bordered by established trees. “The key noticeable transformation is that we’ve taken out all the fencing, 1.2km of it, to create the impression like a single landscape.” In the warmer months, they donned protective gear and removed masses of harmful weeds, an non-native plant that can harm the skin. “We’ve planted numerous of bush lines,” notes Easton. “But the main thing is we’ve just given it space for a short time. We’ve removed a significant amount of livestock impact and noticed what’s come up.”

Low scrub and hedgerows are a ideal nightingale habitat, she comments, however today they’re managing some of the wild growth to create a greater range of environments and to link up two parts of the site. Young saplings will take a while to establish, but saplings from the surrounding trees are already growing in the open areas; the team have been installing protectors to protect them from grazing deer.

Wildlife Comes Back in Large Numbers

In addition to the songbirds – animals is returning in droves. This year they’ve seen reptiles, slowworms, flyers and insects, explains another co-director, as he uncovers one of their survey equipment (such as a doormat over a indentation in the earth). “You get snakes and things residing under there, but it’s likely a bit cool for them now.” Natural nests, built using hollowed-out parts of wood and active with wild bees, are fixed to some of the plants. The removal of livestock has provided invertebrates opportunity to flourish in the meadows. When they explored this time, says he, “I’d never encountered so numerous butterflies. There were just swarms of them. We were wondering, ‘What is occurring?’”

Inception of the Project

The original founders – Bennett, Jack, Molly and more individuals – united as learners, focusing on or sharing an passion in environmental science. In that year, the IPCC was forecasting that the safe limit of 1.5C of climate change was looking unachievable, Greta Thunberg was guiding the demonstrations for climate movement, and campaigner another voice was addressing young people suffering from “environmental stress”. It was also the period of Isabella Tree’s book, about nature recovery, on how they changed the a nearby property from a unsuccessful dairy farm into a successful wildlife haven. “We were super-inspired by the case study, but what was the part for youth?” questions Easton. “So we made a website and rang up loads of wildlife trusts and were saying, ‘Do you ever get your property owners wanting to take action and you are short on capacity?’”

Durant explains the story: “Our whole organisation was basically founded on the notion that there were individuals who were ready to allow a group of young enthusiasts on to their estate indiscriminately, to make fairly massive choices that would change land value