Conservationists are calling for action to restore dwindling wildlife to farms.

A study commissioned by the Wildlife Trusts says farmers have been spectacularly successful at increasing food production since World War II.

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But at the same time the countryside has lost 95% of its wildflower-rich meadows, 50% of lowland fens and 40% of hedgerows - with most of the losses caused by farming.

Species in decline include bats, hares, water voles, butterflies, many different birds, toads and newts.

The report says wildlife could be restored for just over half the cost of European Union subsidies to UK farmers.

Arable farming threatens hares' habitat

On average, farms now produce three times as much wheat, barley, potatoes and sugar beet per hectare as they did in 1945, says the report's author, Dr Jules Pretty, Director of the Centre for Environment and Society at Essex University.

Milk yields per cow have also more than doubled.

Dr Pretty says the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) pays farmers about £3bn annually, of which only about £100m is explicitly for what are called "agri-environmental" objectives.

And he says most of this meagre support has been for habitat creation and protection.

The report calls this "greening the edge of farming rather than encouraging the whole farmed landscape to become more sustainable".

There is widespread agreement that the CAP should be reformed by separating productivity from the payments farmers receive.

This would discourage the production of surplus crops and encourage farming that was more environmentally and socially useful.

Gains all round

Dr Pretty says there can be a viable future for farmers with "a policy framework that integrates support for farming together with rural development and the environment".

Several butterfly species are dwindling fast

He says that would create new jobs, protect and improve natural resources, and support rural communities.

The report says: "The key mechanism is an expansion in environmental payments to farmers."

It envisages four levels of support, with farmers able to choose which one suited them best:

• no public support - farmers would sell their produce at world prices and would have to comply only with basic environmental regulations and legislation

• support for specific habitats - in return for safeguarding features like hedges, ponds, and woodland, farmers would get "a relatively small public payment" per acre

• "greening the middle of the field" - this would go to farmers willing to maintain 10% of their land as wildlife habitat and to adopt methods that lead to a reduction in the use of non-renewable pesticides and fertilisers

• special incentives for organic farming and rural enterprise development - this would help farmers making significant contributions to wildlife conservation.