Abstract
The Natura 2000 is a network of protected areas established in the European Union on the basis of EU Directives. Simultaneously it is the youngest form of protected areas in Poland. Hence conflicts between conservation objectives and opportunities as well as needs of community economic development are quite common. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the tourism and investment potential of Czarnkowsko-Trzcianecki County and determine whether the Natura 2000 network is a factor in increasing the tourism and investment development of the commune or limiting it. We evaluated the tourism and investment potential based on modification of the Gołembski method (i.e., multidimensional comparative analysis) and measured the proportion of the Natura 2000 network in the total area of the commune. The Trzcianka commune was found to have the greatest tourism development and investment potential, but the Wieleń commune was the most attractive in terms of tourism, and Czarnków (municipal commune) was found to have the highest investment attractiveness. Moreover, there was no correlation between the Natura 2000 network and tourism and investment potential of communes. However, these areas had a negative impact on the investment attractiveness of communes, due to socio-economic and technical aspects, which may cause future potential limitation of development.
Highlights
We evaluated the tourism and investment potential of Czarnkowsko-Trzcianecki County, where the Natura 2000 network is located
The conducted research indicated that the tourism attractiveness of the analyzed communes ranged from 0.141 to 0.359
The evaluation of tourism and investment potential might be the first stage of a multi-criteria approach to planning the development of an administration unit
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Socio-economic interests are quite commonly in opposition to ecological aspects. Contradictory interests are important in the case of protected areas. These areas are valuable in terms of nature protection, and on the other hand, there is a society that wants to develop. A special case is Natura 2000—a network of protected areas designated in all countries of the European Union. The primary goal of the Natura 2000 network is the protection of biodiversity, but it does not exclude human activity and tries to ensure that people can co-exist sustainably with the natural world [1]
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