PAPER NO: 255 LIVING WITH THE SEA - COASTAL HABITAT MANAGEMENT PLANS

Over the last decade, English Nature, the Environment Agency and others have strongly advocated that in order to provide a healthy living coastline dynamic coastal processes must be able to take their course; providing benefits for both nature conservation and coastal defence. Yet, at times, both the coastal defence strategies advocated to protect coastal assets and the implementation of the European Union Habitats and Birds Directives' in the UK appear to conflict with this aim. The outcome being that the 'preservation' of coastal systems in their current form, rather than the 'conservation' of features as part of a dynamic system, would appear to be advocated. Ultimately, dynamic coastlines should be allowed to function, and the regulatory system and coastal defence policy should facilitate this if coastal management decisions are to achieve sustainable results.