Conflicts related to the implementation of the Natura 2000 network can be found in Poland and other European countries. The general causes of those conflicts are known. Some of them lie in the habitat directive itself, and others are related to the transposition of the directive into national environmental law and management systems. The designation of Natura 2000 sites in Poland involved strong protests on a local level, mainly due to the lack of consultations with the stakeholders, or at least with the local governments. In those days, the common argument against the implementation of Natura 2000 was one of severe restrictions on the conduct of economic activities and infrastructure development. Eight years after the official implementation of Natura 2000 in Poland, we would like to state the research question as follows: “Is Natura 2000 a constraint on local development?” The paper presents the results of the research on the conflicts related to the Natura 2000 sites in Poland, and a perception of the Natura 2000 impact on the local economy, local community, and local citizens’ own situation, based on the questionnaire surveys conducted at the meetings, where management plans of the Natura 2000 sites were discussed. It appears that despite many cases of conflicts related to economical activities, new investments or infrastructure identified in municipalities with Natura 2000 sites in Poland, local stakeholders do not consider Natura 2000 only to be a restraint, but also an opportunity.

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International and national documents related to climate change and restriction of its effects emphasize the significant role of local authorities in adaptation to climate change. New tasks resulting from the necessity to adapt to climate change rest with a commune as the basic unit of local authority and a government community, which is an organized territorial system implementing particular tasks, having its own structure and applying appropriate procedures. This paper is focused on presenting and discussing the statutory tasks of communes with regard to adaptation to climate change, identified within the frame of the KLIMADA research project “Elaborating and implementation of a strategic plan of adaptation for sectors and areas sensitive to climate change

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the usefulness of applying scenario methods in shaping the processes of development in municipalities, in which special determinants for development are related to the occurrence of especially significant natural values, i.e. municipalities with the Natura 2000 protected areas. The article presents the methodology and scenarios of economic activities development in municipalities located in Natura 2000 protected areas. StreszczenieCelem niniejszego artykułu jest analiza przydatności metod scenariuszowych w procesie kształtowania kierunków rozwoju gmin, w których czynnikami determinującymi są szczegóne walory przyrodnicze, np. gmin położonych na obszarach Natura 2000. Opracowanie prezentuje metodologię budowania scenariuszy rozwoju oraz przykłady scenariuszy rozwojowych gmin z obszarami Natura 2000.