Natura 2000 Sites in Poland and their Impact on the Functioning of Farms

The paper described the network of Natura 2000 sites in Poland, the state of spending funds on Package 4. “Valuable habitats and endangered species of birds in Natura 2000 sites of the Agri- -environmental-climate measure implemented under the RDP 2014-2020” (Package 4. of the AECM under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020) as of 31.12.2017 and also assessed the functioning of farms belonging to beneficiaries of this package against a background of farms from outside Natura 2000 sites, which kept accounts for the Polish FADN in the years 2015-2017. It has been determined that, in Poland, the share of areas covered by the Natura 2000 network in the land area of the country is 19.6%, however, in the case of voivodeships and districts, it is varied. In addition, it has been determined that the state of spending funds under Package 4 has, so far, been PLN 518.8 million and has accounted for 29.6% of total funds spent as part of the AECM under the RDP 2014-2020. It turned out that farms belonging to beneficiaries of Package 4, against a background of other farms which kept accounts for the Polish FADN in the years 2015-2017, were characterised, inter alia, by lower production intensity and lower productivity of production factors. Moreover, those farms obtained lower income per 1 ha of UAA. Analyses have been carried out based on the data from the General Directorate for Environmental Protection, the Central Statistical Office in Warsaw, the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture, the Polish Farm Accountancy Data Network (Polish FADN) and the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation National Research Institute.