CT1: Management of coastal sand dunes and vegetated shingle

Find out about eligibility and requirements for the management of coastal sand dunes and vegetated shingle option.

From:
Rural Payments Agency and Natural England
Published
2 April 2015
Last updated
4 January 2024 — See all updates
Grant type:
Option
Land use:
Biodiversity, Coast, Priority habitats
Tiers or standalone items:
Higher Tier
Funding (per unit per year):
More than £500

How much will be paid

£620 per hectare (ha).

Where to use this option

It is available for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier on whole or part parcels, on a non-rotational basis only on:

  • coastal sand dune priority habitat
  • vegetated shingle priority habitat

Features that can be included in this option

You can include the following features if they are part of the land, even if they are not eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS):

  • scrub
  • open water
  • bare ground

How this option will benefit the environment

It is designed to make sure that existing coastal sand dunes and vegetated shingle sites are managed appropriately. This includes both sites in good condition or those that need restoration, such as where management has stopped or scrub has invaded.

If successful there will be:

  • sand dunes and shingle areas in favourable condition on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), meaning they are adequately conserved and are meeting conservation objectives
  • sand dunes and shingle areas in improving condition if not on SSSIs, meaning measures are in place that if maintained will make them favourable over time
  • a mosaic of open habitats and bare ground with typical sand dune and shingle plant species, such as sand couch, marram grass and sand sedge, although the exact species will depend on the habitat’s location
  • a gradual change from less stable and seasonal habitats near the beach (including drift line vegetation) to more stable landward habitats, connected by moving sand or shingle

Requirements

You must:

  • provide or maintain areas of bare ground
  • carry out extensive grazing (or cutting if grazing is not possible) to encourage vegetation mosaics
  • allow natural and dynamic coastal changes, such as changes due to storms or windblow (deposits of windblown sand)
  • control scrub or other invasive plant species

The agreement will set out what you cannot do. It’s likely you’ll not be allowed to

  • use fertilisers or manures
  • use supplementary feed
  • apply any lime
  • plough, cultivate or re-seed

Keeping records

You must send the following with your application:

  • a map of permitted access routes - you can mark these on any map, including your Farm Environment Record (FER)

On your annual claim must declare that you have not carried out any activities prohibited by the option requirements.

You must keep the following records and supply them on request:

  • receipted invoices, consents or permissions connected with the work
  • field operations at the parcel level, including associated invoices
  • stock records to show grazing activity on parcels
  • photographs of the management undertaken

The detailed requirements for this option will be tailored to the Higher Tier site. You should discuss and agree these requirements with your adviser.

You can locate the following options and supplements on the same area as this option:

Advice and suggestions for how to carry out this option

The following advice is helpful, but they are not requirements for this item.

Dunes and shingle are important elements of coastal landscapes, with active processes creating variation in their structure. These coastal systems also act as an important form of natural sea defence, so play a significant part in adaptation to climate change. The history of management is important to understand: sites that have a tradition of low-intensity grazing should maintain this, while in other areas, such as shingle, the habitat would be damaged if grazing was introduced for the first time.

So while grazing is encouraged on many dune sites, it is not mandatory in all cases; where dune grazing is not possible, you can use a selective cutting regime as an alternative. On many shingle sites, grazing and cutting is not appropriate, but you can still use this option where the shingle forms part of a wider coastal system (see below). You should keep any seaweed or driftwood accumulations.

Where invasion of tall coarse grasses and scrub such as blackthorn, bramble and sea buckthorn has occurred due to under-grazing, carry out capital works to keep the scrub within agreed limits and adjust your grazing or cutting regimes to prevent re-invasion.

Consider option CT2 - Creation of coastal sand dunes and vegetated shingle on arable land and improved grassland, if the habitat is expanding through rollback onto nearby arable or grassland. Rollback is the movement of dunes inland due to coastal processes and wind blow.

Biodiversity

This option has been identified as being beneficial for biodiversity. All Countryside Stewardship habitat creation, restoration and management options are of great significance for biodiversity recovery, as are the wide range of arable options in the scheme. Capital items and supplements can support this habitat work depending on the holding’s situation and potential.

The connectivity of habitats is also very important and habitat options should be linked wherever possible. Better connectivity will allow wildlife to move/colonise freely to access water, food, shelter and breeding habitat, and will allow natural communities of both animals and plants to adapt in response to environmental and climate change.

Further information

You can find more information on the Buglife habitat management pages for:

Read Countryside Stewardship: get funding to protect and improve the land you manage to find out more information about Higher Tier including how to apply.

Updates to this page

Published 2 April 2015
Last updated 4 January 2024 + show all updates

  1. Update to How Much Is Paid

  2. New payment rate from 1 January 2022.

  3. The Keeping records section has been updated

  4. Updated for 2017 applications.

  5. Information updated for applications in 2016.

  6. First published.

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