The British Isles, due to their geographic location on the eastern seaboard of the north Atlantic and the northwest edge of the continent of Europe, are of major importance for many species of birds. In particular, maritime habitats, including cliffs, sand dunes, shingle, lagoons, estuaries, and the productive seas around them, are of great importance for both breeding and migratory birds and are considered to be some of the most important habitats for bird conservation in England.

Globally, England is one of the most important areas for breeding sea birds and non-breeding waterfowl and seabirds26, and has an important role to play in the conservation of European birds. Feeding, nesting and roosting areas are all provided by maritime habitats, and some species may use a coastal location for nesting, whilst feeding at sea. For example, cliff- nesting seabirds such as fulmars, from various locations around England, will cover large areas of sea up to 400 kms from the shore to find food for their young. In winter, these birds will disperse over a wider area of sea. Regular breeding species include a number of species of gulls, terns, and auks as well as fulmars, Manx shearwaters, storm petrels, gannets, cormorants and shags. One of the largest-known nesting colony of kittiwakes in the North Atlantic is found on Flamborough and Bempton Cliffs, illustrating the significance of the English coast for birds.

Birds are highly mobile, so conservation measures need to address their whole range and life-cycle, within and beyond designated sites. There are over 60 sea cliff SSSIs in England, covering an area of just under 6,000 ha of which 92% (by area) are in favourable condition. The remaining 8% (420 ha) is in unfavourable condition, due to interference with coastal processes, or inappropriate land management, particularly the lack of grazing on cliff top grasslands. Land use such as
farming at the cliff top can have a direct influence on the vegetation on the cliff slope. In low intensity grazing systems,
stock grazing maintains the diverse cliff top vegetation that forms the starting point for the development of cliff-slope plant communities. In the post-war drive to intensify agriculture, most cliff top maritime grassland  has been ploughed, resulting in fewer plant species. In contrast, more steeply sloping ground is no longer grazed by stock, resulting in overgrown scrub at the expense of flower rich open grasslands.

Buildings near cliff tops lead to greater pressure to build defence structures to slow the erosion of dynamic cliffs, as the cliff edge recedes towards the development. Climate change is predicted to increase rates of erosion due to increased winter rainfall, and increased storminess. Hard engineering solutions to reduce the risk of erosion on soft cliffs are costly, difficult and unlikely to be sustainable. Continual landslips and coastal movement are key factors in maintaining the range of wildlife on soft cliffs and providing a supply of sediment to adjacent or more distant coastlines. Many soft cliffs have been stabilised by coast protection or sown with commercial grass species in an effort to stabilise the cliff slopes. In 1992 it was estimated29 that only 255 km of soft cliffs in England remained unaffected by coastal defences. Research by English Nature30 has also established that the 9.5 km stretch of chalk cliffs between Cuckmere Haven and Holywell in Sussex is the longest section of continuously undefended cliff between the Isle of Wight and The Wash! Stabilisation results in changes to the mosaic of cliff habitats, with bare ground and pioneer vegetation being progressively overgrown. Equally important, this may cause sediment starvation and increased erosion at adjacent beaches. Sediment input to the marine environment from cliffs may have
declined by as much as 50% over the past 100 years because of protection works.

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan includes a commitment to a policy of ‘no net loss’ of maritime cliff and slope habitats11. Under the current legislative and policy framework this is unlikely to be achieved, as future demand for coast protection is predicted to exceed the availability of sites where defences could be removed or abandoned to re-instate cliff recession and habitat restoration.