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.

No abstract

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.

Abstract:The paper presents the results of studies on the infl uence of the 2010 Vistula fl ood on the humifi cation process in the bottom sediments of the Goczałkowice Reservoir in southern Poland. Due to its location in the vicinity of farmlands, forests and urbanized areas, the Goczałkowice Reservoir is characterized by amplifi ed and intense humifi cation processes within its sediments. The studies were focused on the determining the infl uence of the fl ood wave containing organic and inorganic suspensions on these processes. Humic acids were analyzed using two spectroscopic methods: Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). Application of these methods allowed to determine the values of free radicals and of the g-factor, which are indicators of oxidation, aromatization and maturation of humic acids during the humifi cation process, as well as the value of the 1650/1720 ratio, refl ecting the dissociation of the COOH group to COO -and the formation of complexes of transitional metals with humic acids during the humifi cation process.