Farmers want to help wildlife and the vast majority believe that wildlife conservation is an integral part of their farming system, according to two surveys conducted by the Voluntary Initiative.

The VI surveys found that 86 per cent of farmers agreed that environmental management and wildlife conservation were important parts of their farm management.

But farmers appeared not to accept the evidence of farmland bird declines from national surveys. Only 10 per cent of farmers interviewed believed farmland birds, such as lapwings and skylarks, had declined in their area, whereas 52 per cent thought they had increased.

Similar results were found for populations of butterflies and bumblebees. Roughly half of the farmers who thought that farmland birds had declined accepted that it was because of changes in farming practice. The others thought that declines were due to predation, disturbance or loss of farmland to development.

Richard Winspear, RSPB agricultural adviser and chairman of the VI biodiversity group, said: "The surveys show that farmers really do want to do their bit for wildlife but they do not always notice the declines or the reasons for the declines.

"Clearly we need to explain this better.

"The results of this survey provide a focus for the VI and other initiatives, like the Campaign for the Farmed Environment, to help farmers and advisers understand what they can do to increase populations of wild birds and other wildlife indicators."

The two surveys were conducted in June of last year. One face-to-face survey of 130 farmers in England was conducted by VI partners at national events such as Cereals.

The surveys asked respondents about their attitudes to nature conservation and agri environment schemes.