Rola instrumentów finansowych Wspólnej Polityki Rolnej w przekształceniach związanych z zalesieniem gruntów o marginalnym znaczeniu dla rolnictwa

Abstract

One of the most important objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is to increase the efficiency of agricultural production by promoting technological progress, the rational development of agricultural production, and the optimal use of means of production in agriculture. By raising the income of people employed in agriculture, such activities are to ensure an adequate standard of living for people in rural areas, thereby leading to the gradual development of agriculture and rural areas. One method for the optimal use of means of production in agriculture is the exclusion of marginally important agricultural lands from agricultural production. Afforestation of agricultural land is, in turn, an efficient method for the management of such lands, at the same time being the main means of achieving the objectives set out in the National Forestry Extension Programme. The programme aims to increase the forest cover of Poland and optimise the use of land resources, taking into account the complex and heterogeneous needs and possibilities of the country’s individual regions. The research aimed to diagnose the spatial distribution of the afforestation carried out in 2004–2013, thereby helping to analyse the changes in the Polish forest resources, their ownership structure and regional differentiation. Particular attention was paid to the afforestation of formerly private arable land carried out using financial instruments of the CAP. In Poland, the EU CAP was available under the Rural Development Programme 2004–2013, which supported changes in agriculture and rural areas. The analyses used the Central Statistical Office’s data on the forest area of municipalities in 2004 and 2013, as well as the numerical map of afforested lands under the Rural Development Programme 2004–2013.