CCT8: Manage and restore coastal sand dunes
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

£620 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is to restore and keep coastal sand dune priority habitat in a healthy and dynamic condition. You can do this by allowing natural processes to function.

The purpose of this is to:
- allow natural movement of sand to provide habitat and benefit locally important species
- improve movement of sand to adjacent coasts
- maintain diverse sand dune flora, naturally creating opportunities for specialist sand dune flora and fauna to establish
- increase resilience of the habitat and wider coastal system to the impacts of climate change
Where you can do this action

You can do this action on eligible coastal sand dunes located below the moorland line, including coastal sand dunes that are priority habitats or sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs).

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, unless agreed with your Natural England adviser
- keep some areas of bare sand
- manage vegetation including scrub to maintain a varied landscape by grazing, mowing or cutting
- manage injurious weeds and invasive non-native species by methods agreed with your Natural England adviser
- only allow vehicle access on agreed routes
- only create new access tracks or pathways if agreed with your Natural England adviser
- remove and dispose of inorganic waste off site
- 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 create and manage notches or other features in the dunes.

You must not:
- prevent natural processes, such as sand deposits forming during storms
- modify or remove any sea defences or water inlet or outlet systems
- bring in new sand to the site
- plough, cultivate, reseed, roll or harrow
- apply fertilisers, organic manures or waste materials
- use supplementary feed for grazing livestock
- 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
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 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 need to:
- get advice from your Natural England adviser if you have other archaeological or historic features on your agreement land
- apply for a felling licence (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tree-felling-licence-when-you-need-to-apply) from the Forestry Commission to carry out some activities in this action
- 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 do this action on land parcels that include areas of sand dune habitat.

If you plan to restore more mobile sand dune habitat, you can use this action on:
- areas of dunes that have been degraded
- areas of dunes that have alternative land uses, but coastal sands and the dune topography still exists
- highly managed dunes (for example, that are used for golf courses)
Use this action for sand dunes that are well-connected to the beach and inland habitats like dune grassland and heathland, with minimal man-made structures.

You may be able to see distinctive zones of sand dune habitat. Zones would usually be at the top of the beach, and extend further inland to more stable vegetated areas.

Managing your site

You can leave sand dunes to change naturally. You’ll need to manage the vegetation that grows on them to encourage biodiversity.

You can leave sand and sand dunes to erode, move and be deposited naturally by wind and waves.

You can also manage your site by:
- allowing natural coastal processes so you have a dune system that’s mostly self-managing and allows the site to adapt naturally to change – you may need to manage dunes that have become over-stabilised to reinstate natural changes
- maintaining a variety of plants and sward heights across the sand dune habitat – you can do this by grazing (using appropriate hardy breeds at the right stocking level), mowing or cutting (removing cuttings to help reduce nutrient enrichment and smothering) or by doing all these things
- making space for specialist sand dune plant species by keeping scrub cover across the site area to around 5% – you may need to apply small amounts of herbicide to prevent regrowth of scrub or invasive species
- maintaining around 10 to 20% of bare sand in the agreement area – this will help keep a constant coverage of annual and short-lived plants that start growing shortly after sand is cleared and support the animals that thrive in open and unshaded habitat
- protecting sensitive areas (such as areas with ground nesting birds) by managing public access like using signs and fencing to keep visitors and vehicles to agreed routes
You can use your feasibility study to help guide you with large-scale restoration work, including:
- creation of notches in the frontal dunes to allow windblown sand to reach more stable inland dune areas
- blowout restoration (often done with notching) where excavated sand is placed on the dune crest on the downwind side to promote wind dispersion
- turf stripping that’s typically used to increase bare sand for annual and short-lived plants, support the animals that use it as habitat and to remove organic matter and accumulated soil nutrients
- restoration of the site’s natural hydrology and connection to the water table – for example, by blocking artificial drains, restoring dunes slacks, removing nearby woody species, stopping or reducing water abstraction and removal of plantation woodland from dunes