That beautifully intricate call of the nightingale is a scarce occurrence in the UK today, but it's different at this rural location. Previously, a single nightingale could be noticed at this remote spot in rural Surrey; lately, they were in multiple locations. “We were hearing them calling all night, from five different territories,” says Meg Cookson, chief environmental expert for the youth rewilding group. A team of volunteers were camping out at the property, yet the birds were so noisy, “we stayed awake all night,” comments Layla Mapemba. “We were all worn out the next day, but it was so cool.” An expert from the local conservation group came to help them net and ring one of the nightingales the next morning, the ecologist states: “He’d never touched a nightingale in his hands before. He was teary.”
Ecological Restoration Progresses at the Surrey Site
Rewilding is by definition a slow process, but here at the farm, after just four years, the outcomes are already visible, and hearable. The land previously served as a haven for equines. Currently it’s a model for the youth-led purpose: to hasten nature recovery, in one of the most nature-depleted nations in the world, and to link youth (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often shut out of, and a climate crisis they are often powerless to prevent. Climate change continues, deforestation eliminates natural habitats, and one more international meeting ends with a disappointing outcome in the host country – so who could criticize young people for choosing to take matters into their own hands?
Our project was based on the notion that there were landowners prepared to let a collection of youthful idiots on to their estate
“The younger generation is the most informed in terms of nature that there’s ever been,” says the group's co-director, a key figure. They are also “the deeply concerned in the problems, and have played the minimal role to their causing, and, then, are also going to experience consequences most as a outcome.”
Change of the Landscape
Today, the initiative is growing across the UK – and the original site started it all, in every sense. “It’s the initial project, and where we established our connections,” says a founding member, as she offers a overview of the expansive land. “This was previously divided plots,” she states, as we walk through overgrown meadows featuring shrubs, bordered by established trees. “The primary visible difference is that we’ve removed all the barriers, 1.2km of it, to create the impression like one area.” In the recent season, they used protective gear and eradicated significant quantities of harmful weeds, an invasive species that can harm the skin. “We’ve introduced loads of bush lines,” notes Easton. “But the key action is we’ve just given it space for a little bit. We’ve reduced a significant amount of animal feeding and observed what’s emerged.”
Low scrub and shrub lines are a perfect nightingale habitat, she says, but today they’re cutting back some of the wild growth to establish a greater variety of environments and to connect separate areas of the land. Young saplings will take considerably longer to take root, but new growth from the surrounding trees are already taking root in the fields; the group have been setting up barriers to shield them from grazing deer.
Nature Comes Back in Large Numbers
It’s not just the songbirds – wildlife is coming back in large numbers. Lately they’ve seen serpents, creatures, flyers and bugs, explains a team member, as he lifts up one of their monitoring tools (similar to a doormat over a small hollow in the ground). “You find creatures and things hiding under there, but it’s probably a bit cold for them now.” Natural nests, constructed from empty parts of timber and humming with pollinators, are fixed to some of the plants. The removal of grazing horses has allowed invertebrates opportunity to thrive in the overgrown areas. When they explored this summer, says the director, “I’d not once observed so many insects. There were just masses of them. We were like, ‘What is happening?’”
Beginnings of the Movement
The initial participants – Noah, Jack, Molly and more individuals – came together as learners, studying or having an concern in nature. In the recent past, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was predicting that the safe limit of one and a half degrees of warming was looking out of reach, the activist was spearheading the school strikes for climate movement, and campaigner another voice was discussing youth feeling “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of a writer's book, about nature recovery, on how they changed the Knepp Estate from a unsuccessful agricultural business into a flourishing natural habitat. “We were deeply influenced by the example, but what was the role for the next generation?” asks Easton. “So we created a website and called loads of environmental organizations and were asking, ‘Do you occasionally get your estate holders wishing to take action and you are short on resources?’”
Jack continues the narrative: “Our complete project was essentially premised on the notion that there were people who were ready to let a collection of young enthusiasts on to their property freely, to decide on significant choices that would affect land value
