Bombus may sound a rather foreign cause to be championed by the British media but, given its more recognisable name of bumblebee, recent press concern is understandable.

British bee numbers have been dwindling. They are down 70% in the past 35 years, with three of the 25 native species extinct. And the media could also lament the fate of British wild birds, also declining by 70% over the same period, as well as a similar drop in butterflies and the loss of some less glamorous insects.

Perhaps only a mother or David Bellamy could love some creepy crawlies, but birds, bees, butterflies and beetles are all necessary to pollination, reseeding and ­regeneration of soil nutrients - in short, to agriculture. Yet their habitats and food sources have been decimated over the decades.

Fortunately, the prognosis for British wildlife is not all bad. Thanks to innovative farming schemes, species are returning to pockets of the British countryside. Upton Farm near Banbury in ­Oxfordshire, for example, close to the site where King Charles I's army lined up for the Battle of Edgehill, has taken a step back in time as far as wildlife is concerned. The 2,000-acre farm has encouraged birds to return by providing food and shelter, boosting bee numbers and attracting back several types of indigenous butterfly, including the Marbled White, a grassland species that is unusual to find on a farm.

It is the flagship operation of the Conservation Grade farming scheme, which results in five times more wildlife on average, according to Marek Nowakowski, an agri-environment consultant from the Farmed Environment Company, which helps manage the scheme. "It puts back the tapestry of opportunities for wildlife that existed years ago," he says.

The seven-element scheme involves farmers dedicating 10% of their farmland, which is sown with an individually formulated seed mix to provide habitat and food for birds and animals.

"Most farms already have about 6% of land that either produces a poor yield or is difficult to farm," says Nowakowski. "The extra 4% is not too hard to find."

It sounds a simple-enough solution and the effect is to create enough wildflower-trimmed green and pleasant land to inspire the urge to sing Jerusalem. However, farmers are unlikely to embrace the concept unless they can find something in it for them.

"Farming should be profitable and environmentally friendly," says Nowakowski. "While farmers care about the land, their main motivation is financial. They are paid a premium for crops and there's more work, so they need to be sure there's a buyer at the end of it."

For the 80 farms that have Conservation Grade accreditation, that buyer is breakfast cereal manufacture Jordans. "We adopted Conservation Grade farming in 1985," says chairman Bill Jordan. "Prior to that, all our products had been organic. There are solid reasons behind the decision. Interest in natural food is growing fast and more people are keen to make sure food companies do their bit."

Jordan believes there are other benefits. "We can have a direct dialogue with our farmers. Nowadays, farmers can get payments for doing not very much. Our contracts mean that farmers feel slightly less desperate."

As far as Nowakowski is concerned, it's a win-win situation all round. "The government hits bio­diversity targets," he says. "The public gets a landscape to cherish, the food industry gets marketable news and the farmers get new profit opportunities."n