The multidisciplinary integrated approach of the INTERREG CHARM project (CHannel integrated Approach for marine Resource Management), between France and England, offers decision makers a status report of the English Channel ecosystem and a range of tools based on scientific knowledge for the sustainable management of living marine resources. The English Channel supports a large number of economically significant human activities, such as maritime traffic, fisheries, exploitation of marine resources or mineral resources, wind farms. Due to its environmental characteristics, the English Channel is indeed a crucial area for the life cycle of many marine species: it supports important spawning and nursery grounds, as well as being a significant migration channel between the Atlantic and the North Sea. Some of the marine habitats and living resources in this area play a key environmental role. One of the actions of CHARM project phase III was to describe the structure, composition and distribution of benthic invertebrates in this area. The benthos is a biological compartment of the ecosystem susceptible to be adversely affected by several human activities and may serve as accurate indicators of benthic habitat quality status and sensitivity (Figure 6). The aim of the present study is to draw a benthic sensitive habitat map, based on the Kostylev approach and to complete it with a functional approach. This kind of information may be relevant to both mitigate potential impacts of present human activities and plan future activities in this area. It may also prove useful to better understand the factors affecting the distribution of fishes and predict their evolution.