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The richly complex song of the songbird is a uncommon occurrence in Britain today, however not at this rural location. Four years ago, a solitary nightingale could be noticed at this hidden spot in the countryside of Surrey; recently, they were in multiple locations. “We were hearing them singing all night, from five different territories,” explains a lead scientist, top biologist for the eco-activist organization. A group of Youngwilders were residing temporarily at the property, yet the birds were so boisterous, “we were unable to rest all night,” says Layla Mapemba. “We were all knackered the next day, but it was so incredible.” An specialist from the Surrey Wildlife Trust came to help them capture and tag one of the nightingales the next morning, the ecologist remembers: “He’d never held a songbird in his hands before. He was crying.”

Ecological Restoration Accelerates at the Surrey Site

Ecological restoration is by nature a slow process, but here at this property, after only several seasons, the results are already evident, and hearable. The farm was once a sanctuary for animals. Today it’s a showpiece for the Youngwilders’ mission: to hasten ecological restoration, in one of the biodiversity-poor countries in the globe, and to connect the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a natural world they are often excluded from, and a climate crisis they are often ineffectual to prevent. Climate change persists, tree clearing damages natural habitats, and another climate conference draws to a disappointing end in the host country – so who could fault young people for wanting to take matters into their own hands?

Our initiative was premised on the notion that there were landowners willing to allow a collection of young idiots on to their estate

“The younger generation is the most informed environmentally that there’s historically,” explains the Youngwilders’ leader, a key figure. They are also “the deeply concerned in the problems, and have contributed the minimal role to their causing, and, then, are also going to be affected the greatest as a result.”

Transformation of the Landscape

Now, the initiative is taking root across the UK – and the original site planted the seed, in every sense. “It’s the initial project, and the place we created our network,” says a founding member, as she provides a overview of the 12-hectare land. “This once consisted of multiple separate areas,” she states, as we stroll through overgrown meadows filled with low scrub, surrounded by mature woodland. “The primary visual change is that we’ve removed all the fencing, 1.2km of it, to create the impression like a single area.” In the warmer months, they donned protective gear and removed masses of giant hogweed, an non-native plant that can burn the body. “We’ve introduced loads of bush lines,” says she. “But the key action is we’ve just given it space for a brief period. We’ve reduced a large part of animal feeding and seen what’s emerged.”

Low scrub and shrub lines are a perfect songbird home, she comments, but now they’re cutting back some of the wild growth to develop a greater range of ecosystems and to join separate areas of the land. Young saplings will take much more time to grow, but young trees from the surrounding oaks are already establishing themselves in the meadows; the team have been placing barriers to safeguard them from wildlife.

Nature Comes Back in Large Numbers

It’s not just the songbirds – wildlife is returning in abundance. This year they’ve observed grass snakes, creatures, nocturnal mammals and invertebrates, notes Noah Bennett, as he raises one of their monitoring tools (like a cover over a indentation in the soil). “You find creatures and things residing under there, but it’s probably a somewhat chilly for them now.” Organic homes, made from carved sections of timber and buzzing with insects, are fixed to some of the plants. The removal of animals has provided insects opportunity to flourish in the long grass. When they came to this season, says he, “I’d not ever encountered so many lepidoptera. There were just clouds of them. We were saying, ‘What is going on?’”

Origins of the Project

The first founders – Noah, Durant, Molly and additional members – formed as youth, studying or sharing an interest in ecology. In that year, the IPCC was indicating that the acceptable threshold of 1.5C of warming was appearing impossible, a prominent figure was leading the demonstrations for environmental action, and activist another voice was addressing young people feeling “environmental stress”. It was also the era of a writer's publication, about nature recovery, on how she and her husband revitalized the Knepp Estate from a struggling dairy farm into a thriving ecosystem. “We were highly motivated by the example, but what could be the role for young people?” says Molly. “So we created a website and contacted numerous of environmental organizations and were asking, ‘Do you occasionally get your landowners wanting to make changes and you lack capacity?’”

Jack adds the story: “Our entire project was essentially founded on the idea that there were landowners who were ready to let a group of young idiots on to their land without strict rules, to take fairly massive decisions that would change land value