The manically melodic song of the nightingale is a scarce sound in Britain these days, yet it's different at Maple Farm. Back in 2020, a single nightingale could be detected at this remote place in the countryside of Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were listening to them calling all night, from several zones,” notes one ecologist, lead ecologist for the youth rewilding group. A team of participants were staying overnight at the property, yet the nightingales were so loud, “we were unable to rest all night,” says a project coordinator. “We were all worn out the next day, but it was so incredible.” An professional from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them trap and mark one of the songbirds the next morning, Cookson states: “He’d never handled a songbird in his care before. He was teary.”
Rewilding Speeds Up at Maple Farm
Nature recovery is by definition a lengthy process, but here at this property, after just four years, the changes are already apparent, and audible. The property previously served as a haven for animals. Today it’s a showpiece for the youth-led purpose: to hasten nature recovery, in one of the ecologically impoverished nations in the globe, and to engage young people (18-30-year-olds) with a ecosystem they are often shut out of, and a environmental emergency they are often unable to stop. Global heating persists, deforestation damages natural habitats, and another Cop summit draws to a frustrating outcome in Brazil – so what person could fault youth for choosing to take matters into their own hands?
The project was based on the notion that there were landowners ready to allow a bunch of young amateurs on to their estate
“The younger generation is the most knowledgeable environmentally that there’s ever been,” says the Youngwilders’ leader, a key figure. They are also “the highly invested in the issues, and have contributed the smallest part to their creation, and, then, are also going to be affected the worst as a consequence.”
Revitalization of the Site
Today, the organisation is expanding across the UK – and Maple Farm planted the seed, in all respects. “It’s where we started, and where we created our community,” says Molly Easton, as she provides a walkthrough of the 12-hectare property. “This used to be multiple separate areas,” she comments, as we walk through long grass dotted with low scrub, bordered by mature woodland. “The main noticeable difference is that we’ve taken out all the fencing, 1.2km of it, to create the impression like a unified landscape.” In the summer, they wore protective gear and cleared significant quantities of invasive plants, an non-native plant that can irritate the skin. “We’ve introduced many of bush lines,” says the director. “But the key action is we’ve just let it breathe for a brief period. We’ve removed a lot of livestock impact and noticed what’s sprung up.”
Low scrub and hedgerows are a ideal songbird environment, she comments, although today they’re managing some of the brambles to create a increased variety of ecosystems and to link up separate areas of the land. New trees will take a while to establish, but new growth from the adjacent trees are already taking root in the fields; the team have been setting up protectors to shield them from wildlife.
Animals Reappears in Large Numbers
It’s not just the nightingales – wildlife is coming back in abundance. Lately they’ve observed serpents, creatures, flyers and invertebrates, explains another co-director, as he uncovers one of their survey equipment (similar to a mat over a small hollow in the earth). “You find creatures and wildlife hiding under there, but it’s possibly a bit cool for them now.” Natural beehives, built using hollowed-out parts of wood and buzzing with wild bees, are attached to some of the plants. The removal of animals has given invertebrates opportunity to thrive in the meadows. When they explored this time, comments the director, “I’d not ever encountered so many butterflies. There were just swarms of them. We were like, ‘What is going on?’”
Beginnings of the Project
The first participants – Bennett, Jack, Molly and two others – united as learners, studying or having an concern in environmental science. In 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was predicting that the acceptable threshold of 1.5C of warming was seeming out of reach, a prominent figure was spearheading the demonstrations for climate movement, and advocate another voice was discussing the generation suffering from “environmental stress”. It was also the era of the author's book, on rewilding, on how they revitalized the Knepp Estate from a failing agricultural business into a successful wildlife haven. “We were deeply influenced by the example, but what could be the role for young people?” asks Molly. “So we created a platform and rang up loads of wildlife trusts and were like, ‘Do you sometimes get your estate holders wanting to take action and you lack time?’”
Jack continues the narrative: “Our entire initiative was essentially based on the notion that there were individuals who were ready to let a collection of youthful enthusiasts on to their estate indiscriminately, to decide on major actions that would impact land value
