Wild flowers and animals which have not been seen in Sussex for years are making a welcome comeback thanks to changes in farming methods.

There was a time when the fields of Sussex were blooming with wild flowers and filled with butterflies and birds.

But all that changed as pesticides and herbicides became more efficient and were more widely used.

This summer, however, a vibrant red field of poppies just visible off the A27, near Hollingbury, has greeted drivers - evidence the flower-filled meadows could once again become a common sight.

It is a sign farmers are changing their approach to working the fields and are becoming more sympathetic to the environment.

Farmers and landowners are now paid to farm their land in environmentally-friendly ways through schemes from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), including the Environmentally-Sensitive Areas Scheme and the Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

Dr Tony Whitbread, head of conservation at the Sussex Wildlife Trust, said times were changing.

The EU is discussing a new measure called decoupling, in which farmers would get paid to manage the land rather than for how much they produce.

Dr Whitbread said: "A lot of farmers are becoming more sympathetic. They only want the right measures in place to do it. If they can do it, they will.

"There is a lot of negotiation going on in Europe. It looks like we could be about to see a major change in farming."

Dr Whitbread said there have been more sightings of species, including birds such as buzzards and hobbys and butterflies such as meadow brown, peacock and red admiral in Sussex.

He said: "When species come back, it tends to be those which can recolonise. Poppies, by their very nature, are a fast colonising species."

Dr Jill Sutcliffe, botanical manager at English Nature, confirmed there was evidence wild flowers, animals and insects were coming back to Sussex.

One way this was being achieved was when farmers left grass margins around the edges of their fields, which had not been ploughed, or where the soil had been left along the edge of the field.

Dr Sutcliffe said "For some farmers it has always been a war against weeds. For us a healthy countryside is not green. A healthy countryside has lots of colours."

Plans have been approved to put fencing around the perimeter of Telscombe Tye, a 210-acre stretch of common land between Telscombe Cliffs and Saltdean.

Farmer David Carr is not allowed to use fertiliser on the land or cut the grass for silage before July 1 each year.

Cutting it before this time results in the destruction of skylark nests.

The fence will also prevent motorcycles and cars from driving on the Tye and stop travellers from camping on the land, while walkers and horse riders will still be able to enjoy the coastal beauty spot.

Although Mr Carr, who rents the land from Telscombe Town Council, can cut it for hay later in the year, he will use a wheat field for silage.

Mr Carr, of DW Carr Partnership, which owns Coombe Farm Dairies, said: "We are happy to go along with it because the Tye will be fenced and we do graze our young cattle on it during the winter months.

"At present, we have to have someone with a vehicle up there to monitor them.

"We all want to see some wildlife. It is a balance between that and producing food."

Senior ranger Simon Culpin of Sussex Downs Conservation Board said the scheme could mean people might see butterflies such as clouded yellow and marbled white and flowers such as scabius and the blue round-headed rapium also known as The Pride of Sussex, on the Tye.

Mr Culpin said: "People want to walk along ground which is not highly fertilised. It is better to be able to enjoy wild flowers and wildlife.

"There is a piece of land on the Tye which has already been in the scheme for ten years and it is already very different. There are a lot more wild flowers."

Farmer David Hobden and his wife June won an award in 2000 for the stewardship of the flower-rich meadows and pastures of their farm.

The High Weald farm used to belong to Mr Hobden's father who ran it since the Thirties until he died in 1987.

Mr Hobden farms his land using traditional methods, with no fertilisers, and grazes Sussex beef cattle.

He makes hay from the land, which is fed to cattle in the winter months.

Flowers which can be seen include species such as ox-eye daisies and four types of buttercups and those with unusual names such as sneeze-wort, agrimony, fairy flax, yellow rattle and devil's-bit scabious.

Birds include yellow hammers, skylarks, goldfinches and chaffinches and butterflies include meadow browns and skippers.

Seeds from the flowers are harvested so they can be planted in intensively-farmed land to bring it back to life and re-establish meadows.

Mr Hobden said: "I do it because I thoroughly enjoy it. I get tremendous pleasure out of getting out there in the morning when it is sunny and the skylarks are singing and everything it beautiful.

"To me it is a really great feeling."