The beautifully intricate call of the songbird is a uncommon sound in the UK today, yet it's different at this rural location. Back in 2020, a lone bird could be detected at this remote location in the countryside of Surrey; this summer, they were everywhere. “We were listening to them calling all night, from several zones,” explains one ecologist, top biologist for the youth rewilding group. A group of volunteers were residing temporarily at the site, however the birds were so loud, “we stayed awake all night,” remarks Layla Mapemba. “We were all exhausted the next day, but it was so incredible.” An specialist from the regional nature organization came to help them capture and tag one of the nightingales the next morning, the ecologist states: “He’d never held a songbird in his possession before. He was teary.”
Ecological Restoration Accelerates at the Surrey Site
Ecological restoration is by nature a lengthy business, but here at this property, after only a short period, the results are already visible, and noticeable. The farm used to be a haven for horses. Currently it’s a showpiece for the youth-led goal: to accelerate ecological restoration, in one of the biodiversity-poor countries in the planet, and to engage the younger generation (18-30-year-olds) with a natural world they are often shut out of, and a climate crisis they are often ineffectual to prevent. Climate change persists, tree clearing destroys natural habitats, and yet another climate conference ends with a frustrating conclusion in Brazil – so what person could blame youth for choosing to initiate change themselves?
The initiative was founded on the notion that there were people ready to allow a collection of youthful idiots on to their land
“The newer cohort is the most informed ecologically that there’s historically,” explains the group's founder, a key figure. They are also “the most emotionally involved in the issues, and have added the least to their causing, and, then, are also going to suffer most as a outcome.”
Change of the Site
Today, the organisation is growing across the UK – and Maple Farm was the beginning, in multiple ways. “It’s the initial project, and where we built our connections,” says another co-director, as she provides a walkthrough of the 30-acre property. “This once consisted of six different fields,” she comments, as we stroll through tall vegetation filled with low scrub, surrounded by forest. “The primary visual difference is that we’ve taken out all the barriers, a significant length of it, to give the sense like a unified landscape.” In the summer, they wore protective gear and removed masses of giant hogweed, an aggressive flora that can harm the flesh. “We’ve planted many of hedgerows,” explains she. “But the main thing is we’ve just given it space for a little bit. We’ve removed a large part of livestock impact and observed what’s come up.”
Bushes and hedgerows are a perfect nightingale home, she comments, but today they’re trimming some of the brambles to develop a greater range of ecosystems and to link up separate areas of the site. Fresh plantings will take a while to grow, but new growth from the surrounding woodland are already taking root in the open areas; the team have been installing barriers to shield them from wildlife.
Wildlife Reappears in Large Numbers
It’s not just the songbirds – wildlife is coming back in large numbers. Lately they’ve spotted serpents, legless lizards, flyers and bugs, explains Noah Bennett, as he lifts up one of their monitoring tools (such as a cover over a depression in the ground). “You find reptiles and wildlife sheltering under there, but it’s probably a slightly cold for them now.” Natural beehives, constructed from empty pieces of wood and buzzing with pollinators, are attached to some of the woodland. The absence of animals has given insects opportunity to flourish in the meadows. When they came to this time, states Bennett, “I’d not once encountered so numerous butterflies. There were just masses of them. We were like, ‘What is happening?’”
Inception of the Initiative
The first founders – Noah, Jack, Molly and more individuals – formed as learners, studying or sharing an passion in nature. In the recent past, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was forecasting that the safe limit of one and a half degrees of climate change was looking out of reach, a prominent figure was guiding the school strikes for environmental action, and advocate a speaker was addressing the generation suffering from “eco-worry”. It was also the period of Isabella Tree’s book, Wilding, on how they changed the a nearby property from a struggling farm into a flourishing natural habitat. “We were highly motivated by the example, but what was the role for the next generation?” says Molly. “So we developed a platform and called loads of wildlife trusts and were like, ‘Do you sometimes get your property owners wishing to make changes and you are short on resources?’”
Jack explains the story: “Our complete project was essentially founded on the notion that there were people who were ready to permit a bunch of youthful amateurs on to their estate without strict rules, to make significant decisions that would affect land value
