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The richly complex melody of the songbird is a rare presence in the UK nowadays, yet not at this rural location. Four years ago, a single bird could be detected at this secluded spot in rural Surrey; recently, they were all around. “We were hearing them chirping all night, from several zones,” says Meg Cookson, chief environmental expert for the Youngwilders. A group of Youngwilders were residing temporarily at the location, yet the nightingales were so boisterous, “we couldn’t sleep all night,” says Layla Mapemba. “We were all knackered 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, she remembers: “He’d never handled a nightingale in his hands before. He was emotional.”

Ecological Restoration Accelerates at This Location

Rewilding is by definition a lengthy business, but at this site at this property, after only four years, the outcomes are already evident, and audible. The property was once a retirement home for equines. Now it’s a model for the Youngwilders’ goal: to hasten nature recovery, in one of the most nature-depleted nations in the planet, and to engage youth (18-30-year-olds) with a natural world they are often shut out of, and a global warming issue they are often powerless to prevent. Rising temperatures persists, habitat loss destroys natural habitats, and yet another climate conference comes to a disappointing end in Brazil – so who could fault the younger generation for choosing to initiate change themselves?

The project was founded on the notion that there were individuals ready to permit a group of young enthusiasts on to their land

“The youth is the best educated environmentally that there’s historically,” states the group's founder, a key figure. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the issues, and have played the least to their origin, and, then, are also going to suffer the worst as a result.”

Transformation of the Landscape

Now, the group is taking root across the United Kingdom – and the original site planted the seed, in multiple ways. “It’s where we started, and the place we built our network,” explains a founding member, as she gives a tour of the 30-acre land. “This used to be six different fields,” she states, as we move through overgrown meadows filled with shrubs, bordered by forest. “The primary visual change is that we’ve eliminated all the enclosures, 1.2km of it, to make it feel like a single environment.” In the summer, they used hazmat suits and eradicated large amounts of harmful weeds, an invasive species that can burn the body. “We’ve planted many of bush lines,” notes Easton. “But the key action is we’ve just allowed it to rest for a short time. We’ve removed a large part of grazing pressure and noticed what’s emerged.”

Low scrub and natural fences are a perfect songbird environment, she explains, but now they’re trimming some of the brambles to create a increased diversity of environments and to join separate areas of the property. New trees will take much more time to grow, but young trees from the surrounding trees are already establishing themselves in the fields; the group have been installing guards to shield them from grazing deer.

Animals Returns in Droves

In addition to the songbirds – animals is coming back in large numbers. Recently they’ve spotted grass snakes, slowworms, flyers and invertebrates, says another co-director, as he lifts up one of their reptile mats (similar to a mat over a small hollow in the ground). “You find creatures and animals residing under there, but it’s possibly a slightly cold for them now.” Natural homes, made from carved sections of timber and buzzing with wild bees, are attached to some of the trees. The absence of grazing horses has given insects space to flourish in the long grass. When they explored this summer, says the director, “I’d not ever seen so countless insects. There were just clouds of them. We were wondering, ‘What is going on?’”

Beginnings of the Movement

The initial participants – Bennett, Durant, Easton and additional members – formed as learners, studying or expressing an interest in nature. In that year, the climate experts was indicating that the acceptable threshold of one and a half degrees of climate change was appearing impossible, Greta Thunberg was guiding the demonstrations for climate movement, and campaigner Clover Hogan was talking about the generation feeling “climate anxiety”. It was also the time of Isabella Tree’s book, Wilding, on how they changed the a Sussex location from a unsuccessful farm into a successful ecosystem. “We were deeply influenced by the example, but what could be the function for the next generation?” questions Easton. “So we developed a platform and contacted loads of wildlife trusts and were like, ‘Do you occasionally get your property owners seeking to take action and you lack resources?’”

Durant explains the account: “Our entire project was fundamentally premised on the belief that there were individuals who were willing to let a collection of young amateurs on to their property without strict rules, to take major decisions that would change land value