CCT10: Manage and restore maritime cliffs and slopes
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-24)

What you must do to get paid for this CSHT action and advice on how to do it.

This action is part of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT). You must read the CSHT guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/countryside-stewardship-higher-tier-csht) before you apply.

Duration

5 years

How much you’ll be paid

£791 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is to restore and keep maritime cliff and slope habitat in good condition. You can do this through appropriate management and by allowing natural processes to function.

The purpose of this is to:
- create space for habitats and sediment supply for the rest of the coast
- increase biodiversity by supporting locally or nationally important species
Where you can do this action

You can do this action on priority habitats and sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) designated as maritime cliffs and slopes (https://magic.defra.gov.uk/magicmap.aspx?&startTopic=GreyRasters&chosenLayers=baseIndex,mcsIndex&box=-670431:208824:1470432:1191177&useDefaultbackgroundMapping=false) on the Priority Habitat Inventory layer on MAGIC

If you have land that’s not mapped on the Priority Habitat Inventory on MAGIC, it may be eligible for this action with approval from your Natural England adviser for:
- land that’s a coastal cliff or slope
- land on top of a cliff or slope up to 500m inland of the sea
You can only do this action if you have an implementation plan or feasibility study agreed with Natural England.

Eligible land

You can do this action on land that’s:
- an eligible land type
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/land-use-codes-rural-payments) which is compatible with the eligible land cover
Available area you can enter into this action

Total or part of the available area in the land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This action is static. This means you must do it on the same location each year of the action’s duration, but there’s some flexibility due to natural coastal changes.

What to do

Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.

To get paid for this action, you must:
- allow coastal and natural hydrological processes to function freely without obstruction
- manage scrub and bracken to provide areas for birds to nest or shelter and encourage a diverse habitat
- protect archaeological or historic features from damage
The advice you’re given from Natural England is specific to your land which means (where relevant) you may also need to:
- manage vegetation by grazing, mowing or cutting
- create and maintain areas of bare ground
You must not:
- carry out activities which could increase erosion rates (for example digging out weeds, reprofiling the cliff face or planting species to stabilise the slope)
- modify hydrology through installing new artificial land drainage or abstracting water
- apply artificial fertiliser on cliff tops or near the cliff slopes
- create new access for vehicles unless agreed
- use supplementary feed for grazing livestock, unless it’s during periods of extreme weather
- apply pesticides – you may be able to use herbicides to spot-treat or weed-wipe for the control of injurious weeds, invasive non-native plant species, nettles or other plants if this has been agreed with your Natural England adviser
- create bare ground on, or disturb, historic or archaeological features
- plough, cultivate, reseed, roll or chain harrow unless agreed with you Natural England adviser
- dispose of any organic or non-organic matter on the site
When to do it

You must do this action each year of its duration.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence. You must supply the evidence if they ask for it.

Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action

You can do the following actions or options on the same area in a land parcel as this action.

Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they’re done at a different time of year to this action.

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:
- CSHT actions: CWT3, CHRW4
- SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2, WBD10
- SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
- CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
Consents, permissions and licensing requirements

To apply for this action, you’ll need:
- to agree an implementation plan or feasibility study with your Natural England adviser
- Scheduled Monument Consent (https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/planning/consents/smc/) from the government from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protected-areas-sites-of-special-scientific-interest#get-consent-to-carry-out-operations-on-your-land)
- to obtain any necessary consents from the Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) or Internal Drainage Board (IDB) before starting any work
You may also need to:
- get advice from the Environment Agency or a risk management authority on managing coastal erosion rates
- refer to the shoreline management plan for your area to understand what management is proposed and find out the local erosion rate
- get advice from your Natural England adviser if you have other archaeological or historic features on your agreement land
- get a wildlife licence (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wildlife-licences) from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
All archaeological and historic features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).

If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.

Capital grants to support this action

If you need to complete an implementation plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for capital grants plans funding (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/capital-items-guidance-for-applicants-and-agreement-holders#capital-grants-plans).

You can also apply for capital items (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/capital-items-guidance-for-applicants-and-agreement-holders) to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.

Advice to help you do this action

The following optional advice may help you to do this action. Your agreement document will set out all the activities you must do.

Choosing a site

You can use this action on a cliff face, slope, edge or coastal cliff top. It supports all semi-natural habitat vegetation types including grassland, heath, bracken, wetland, scrub and woodland up a maximum of 500m inland of the sea (mean high water).

Both hard and soft cliffs can have natural wet areas with small pools or seepages that support wetland plants. There are many rare specialist cliff species of plants, invertebrates and birds.

You can use this action to restore habitats in poor condition or manage those which are in good condition. Habitats in need of restoration are likely to have man-made structures blocking the natural erosion and movement of sediment.

The best examples of maritime cliff and slope habitats are the ones where waves are allowed to interact freely with them. This allows erosion to happen and sediment (such as mud, sand and gravel) to move freely, creating specialist habitats and providing flood and coastal erosion risk benefits.

Maintaining maritime cliff and slope habitat

The best approach to restore and manage maritime cliff and slope habitat is to allow natural coastal processes to occur freely.

Examples include:
- allowing the natural movement of sediment and overlying vegetation to reach the beach where it’ll be distributed by the waves, wind and tides
- allowing natural changes to the cliff slope and topography
- monitoring this natural change using fixed point photography (for example, after storm events or following rock fall, slumping or slips)
- encouraging the natural movement of water on or near the cliff face – capital works can break up or block existing man-made drains on the land
- allowing wetland features to develop naturally (for example, seasonal pools or seepages)
- allowing vegetation to grow naturally
- managing the spread of non-native invasive species
- in soft cliff areas to allow the continued creation of naturally occurring bare sediment (by erosion and landslides)
- creating small areas of bare ground using manual tools to benefit annual and short-lived plants and rare insects
If restoration works are needed, you can use your feasibility study to plan these. You can apply for capital items to manage specific sites or species for:
- removing defunct or no-longer functioning flood or erosion risk management structures (or both)
- restoring natural hydrology by blocking artificial field drains and stopping water abstraction from adjacent land parcels
- reverting a buffer area to semi-natural habitat to help promote greater resilience for cliff slope vegetation quality – whole fields would ideally benefit from reversion