Non-production Functions Research Articles

STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE EXISTING MASTER PLAN FEATURES ON THE INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE LOGISTICS

Purpose. The study of the real state of master plans of existing industrial enterprises in our country indicates that today the planning decisions of some industrial enterprises, especially metallurgical ones, which were built in the twentieth century, to a large extent do not correspond to the classical principles of designing master plans. Achieving the economic effect of production at the enterprise depends on the enterprise’s logistics. Therefore, the purpose of the work is to study the problem of the influence of existing master plans on the way to improve the transport service of the enterprise’s workshops and the efficiency of the industrial enterprise logistics as a whole. Research methods The study used methods of analysis and synthesis to study the issue, as well as analysed the main scientific publications on the impact of existing master plans on the industrial enterprise’s logistics. Results. In the work, using the experimental method of data analysis of the implemented enterprises’ master plans, a study was made of existing master plans’ influence on improving the workshop transport service of the enterprise and the efficiency of the industrial enterprise logistics as a whole, which indicate the need for new effective methods and proposals that take into account the transport functioning peculiarities. The scientific novelty lies in the development of a general method for the impact determining of existing schemes of master plans on transport costs and emergency occurrence. The main direction of improving the transport services efficiency for an industrial enterprise and logistics, in general, is a comprehensive reconstruction of the enterprise territory, taking into account the performance of transport and storage works in order to increase the efficiency of the territories using, reduction of auxiliary production, re-profiling, placing adjacent or other non-production functions, solving environmental problems based on the best domestic and foreign scientific developments. The practical significance of the study is the results of the analysis of technological planning solutions and the proposed evaluation criteria. The presented theoretical provisions, which are based on the experimental method of analysing the data of the implemented master plans, made it possible to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the current state and use of the enterprise’s territory and can be further used in the development of new technologies, technical means, and relevant technological planning solutions.

The genesis of the legal regulation of the activities of housing and communal services of Ukraine in the sphere of providing services to the population

The article states that housing and communal management is one of the important social sectors, which is connected with ensuring decent living conditions for a person, creating normal, healthy, safe conditions for his life. This is a system of enterprises, institutions and organizations that perform production and non-production functions to provide the population with the necessary resources and provide services for the proper maintenance of housing, the improvement of settlements and the development of the relevant infrastructure.History shows that the genesis of the housing economy is closely related to the emergence and development of the housing and communal economy itself, the determinants of which development were: the separation of handicrafts from agriculture (as a result, cities began to appear); emergence of private housing ownership; industrialization (factories and factories began to be built, which required significant human resources); war; political system. At each of the periods of the development of society, the authorities tried in a certain way to establish legal regulation of relations in the field of housing and communal services, but it was not immediately successful, tangible results began to be obtained only from about the middle of the 50s of the XX century.History shows that the genesis of the housing economy is closely related to the emergence and development of the housing and communal economy itself, the determinants of which development were: the separation of handicrafts from agriculture (as a result, cities began to appear); emergence of private housing ownership; industrialization (factories and factories began to be built, which required significant human resources); war; political system. At each of the periods of the development of society, the authorities tried in a certain way to establish legal regulation of relations in the field of housing and communal services, but it was not immediately successful, tangible results began to be obtained only from about the middle of the 50s of the XX century.The historical and legal regulation of the activities of the housing and communal services of Ukraine in the sphere of providing services to the population was studied, as a result of which four periods (pre-Soviet, Soviet, transitional, modern) of its genesis in the territory of modern Ukraine were distinguished and the patterns of criminalization of appropriation, waste of property or possession of it were revealed by abuse of official position.The introduction of criminal liability for misappropriation and waste of property has gone through a long historical path and legal genesis from the recognition of public danger to specific legal norms. Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is the product of long and persistent research, conditioned by the demands of social development and the need to protect against criminal threats of the appropriate form and focus.

STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN AGRICULTURE IN PODKARPACIE IN THE SECOND DECADE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

The purpose of this article is to assess the structural changes taking place in the agriculture of Podkarpacie. The main source of data used in the analysis was the results of the last two general agricultural censuses for the years 2010 and 2020. The area structure of farms, their average area and the structure of land use, which are important components of the agrarian structure of the region, were analyzed. On the basis of the indicators of structure and dynamics, an assessment was made of the changes taking place in relation to the production potential of farms and their consequences for the development of farms in the region. Research showed further worsening of the deagrarianisation processes in Podkarpacie and deepening of this negative trend the agriculture of the region. The decreasing number of farms does not translate into an improvement in the unfavorable area structure and average farm size. The fragmented structure of farms has been the main barrier to their development in competitive market conditions and the reason for the deteriorating position of agriculture in comparison with the rest of Poland. The economic weakness of small farms, which dominate the region, limits the possibility of using their potential, and thus the implementation of sustainable development. The radical decrease in the number of cattle and sheep is a particularly serious threat, especially in mountainous areas with a large potential for fodder from grasslands, the agricultural use of which allows many non-productive functions to be performed.

Prioritising conservation actions towards the sustainability of the dehesa by integrating the demands of society

CONTEXTThe dehesa is an important agrosilvopastoral system in the Mediterranean, consisting of trees, livestock and pasture. It is a multifunctional system that offers a wide range of products and services, including food and forest products, as well as environmental and social services. However, this ecosystem is vulnerable in Andalusia, southern Spain, due to its low economic profitability and environmental and social challenges. OBJECTIVETo contribute to the design of public policies towards greater sustainability of the Andalusian dehesa. For this purpose, different conservation actions/sub-actions (CAs/CSs), i.e. agroforestry and pastoral practices, were evaluated and prioritised according to their expected contribution to sustainability. METHODSA multi-criteria model based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is developed to prioritise the environmental, economic and social demands of Andalusian society. It also allows estimating the contribution of CAs/CSs to the different functions of the dehesa and to the demands of society. The model is assessed on the basis of a survey of society in the dehesa areas of Andalusia and the knowledge of dehesa experts. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSSociety prioritises the environmental dimension of the dehesa. Thus, among society's demands, the highest priorities are the production of typical and quality landscapes and the conservation of biodiversity. In terms of the functions of the dehesa, the social ones stand out for their contribution to sustainability, especially the preservation of cultural heritage. After the social functions, forest production (economic function) and biodiversity (environmental function) are the highest priority functions. For the CAs, soil and water conservation and the renewal of trees are the highest priorities for improving the sustainability of the dehesa. Finally, the most critical CSs have also been identified as those with the greatest potential to improve sustainability based on current practices. SIGNIFICANCEThe methodology/model proposed for the design of policies to improve the sustainability of the Andalusian dehesa allowed the demands of society to be integrated into the process, understanding sustainability to be associated with the general well-being of society. The methodology can serve as a guide for assessing the sustainability associated with management actions in other agricultural systems and/or regions. Furthermore, the results obtained can contribute to the design of public policies towards greater sustainability of the dehesa not only in Andalusia, but also in other regions. The results highlight the importance of considering the productive and non-productive functions of the dehesa as a whole when designing public policies towards sustainability.

Developing cover crop systems for California almonds: Current knowledge and uncertainties

Almond (<i>Prunus amygdalus</i>) orchard systems are highly productive and widespread in Mediterranean climates and dominate the California agricultural landscape. However, current intensive monocultural bare soil production practices limit the potential to support nonproduction functions (i.e., multifunctionality) and long-term sustainability of the orchard system (Aizen et al. 2019; Fenster et al. 2021). Managing orchards for multifunctional benefits includes maintaining ecologically and economically viable yields while prioritizing water quality, soil health, reduced input use, and support for biodiversity. Recent studies in almond demonstrate that diversification, including planted or spontaneous (resident) vegetation in orchard alleys, can improve multifunctionality by enhancing nonproduction functions in the orchard without reducing crop yield, thereby providing opportunities to enhance sustainability and resilience (Fenster et al. 2021; Morugán-Coronado et al. 2020).

Ecosystem services and economic competitiveness of perennial energy crops in the modelling of biomass potential – A case study of the Czech Republic

The paper focuses on the design of a methodology that links the modelling of biomass potential from agricultural land using geographic information systems (derivation of biomass yields according to soil, topographical and climatic characteristics) with the growing need to provide non-productive functions contributing to sustainable land use and ensure the economic viability of biomass from energy crops. According to the proposed methodology, perennial energy crops are prioritized for allocation where the land risk index is highest. The land risk index is determined by assessing 5 basic characteristics - landscape connectivity, landscape heterogeneity, threat of drought, threat of water erosion and threat of soil erosion. In order to assess the economic competitiveness of biomass produced, a methodology for determining biomass production price is used, with the aim of matching the economic effect of growing conventional crops. Land best allocated to perennial energy crops is characterized by a high land risk index value and a competitive biomass production price. The application of the methodology is demonstrated using the case study of the Czech Republic. The results of the case study show that when energy crops are selected based on a combination of necessary non-productive functions and economic competitiveness, this significantly influences the allocation of perennial energy crops to individual land blocks and their contribution to biomass energy potential.

The Shadow Values of Soil Hydrological Properties in the Production Potential of Climatic Regionalization of the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic uses a dual system of agricultural land prices, namely the formal/official price—for tax purposes—and the market price in the case of a standard sale or purchase of farmland. This paper focuses on the construction of an econometric model to quantify the influence of soil hydrological characteristics on the production potential in a given climatic region. It also focuses on the use of this model for the determination of the official price of agricultural land, which is expressed on the basis of the code of the evaluated soil-ecological unit (ESEU) and based on defined soil characteristics. The pricing itself is based on the production potential of the land, which in practice is very important for spatial planning, as it determines the classes of agricultural land protection with regard to the possibility of setting aside agricultural land for non-productive purposes or for drawing subsidies for less favourable areas. In this context, the non-productive functions of agricultural land are also frequently discussed, especially its retention, which plays a very important role in the currently changing climatic conditions. There are a number of studies on soil retention, and numerous approaches to measuring it, but none of them address its impact on production potential and thus on the price of land. For this reason, this paper focuses on defining the influence of the retention of the main soil units (defined for the conditions of the Czech Republic) on production potential. For this definition, SUR models are used, where the endogenous variable is expressed as production potential and the exogenous variables include the basic soil characteristics such as grain size, porosity, hydrological component of the soil, and retention. The obtained outputs show both the high explanatory power of the model and the adequate parametric significance of most variables, which provides sufficient support for the use of the results in practice. In addition, the estimated models across all climatic regions are consistent with substantively logical assumptions about the link between production potential and soil hydrological properties, which secondarily demonstrates their applicability in practice, especially for state administration, but also for local government in the sense of municipalities, cities, and other organizational units.

Impact of interest rates on forest management planning based on multi-criteria decision analysis

Abstract The fulfilment of forest functions is significantly affected by forest management, especially the applied harvest regeneration systems. The interest rate can significantly influence forest regeneration planning but was rarely tested. We examined how different interest rates (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5% and 3%) affect the fulfilment of multiple forest functions and hence, the decision on the optimal forest regeneration system for multiple criteria. The analysis was performed based on the simulation of 450 different harvest-regeneration systems applied to a secondary spruce dominated forest stand and the multi-criteria a posteriori decision analysis. The outputs from the growth simulator were used to quantify the fulfilment of timber production and non-production functions. Three selected indicators (Soil expectation value, Shannon index of species diversity, and height to diameter ratio) were analysed on the base of single-criteria optimisation based on maximising a single indicator and the methods of multi-criteria optimisation of the weighted sum method and Pareto front with the goal to harmonise the fulfilment of three different functions. The results indicated that lower interest rates favoured single tree cutting systems with relatively long rotation cycles (140–160 years), while higher interest rates favoured strip cutting with shorter rotation cycles (90–100 years).

Recent Advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Forest Remote Sensing—A Systematic Review. Part II: Research Applications

Forest sustainable management aims to maintain the income of woody goods for companies, together with preserving non-productive functions as a benefit for the community. Due to the progress in platforms and sensors and the opening of the dedicated market, unmanned aerial vehicle–remote sensing (UAV–RS) is improving its key role in the forestry sector as a tool for sustainable management. The use of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in precision forestry has exponentially increased in recent years, as demonstrated by more than 600 references published from 2018 until mid-2020 that were found in the Web of Science database by searching for “UAV” + “forest”. This result is even more surprising when compared with similar research for “UAV” + “agriculture”, from which emerge about 470 references. This shows how UAV–RS research forestry is gaining increasing popularity. In Part II of this review, analyzing the main findings of the reviewed papers (227), numerous strengths emerge concerning research technical issues. UAV–RS is fully applicated for obtaining accurate information from practical parameters (height, diameter at breast height (DBH), and biomass). Research effectiveness and soundness demonstrate that UAV–RS is now ready to be applied in a real management context. Some critical issues and barriers in transferring research products are also evident, namely, (1) hyperspectral sensors are poorly used, and their novel applications should be based on the capability of acquiring tree spectral signature especially for pest and diseases detection, (2) automatic processes for image analysis are poorly flexible or based on proprietary software at the expense of flexible and open-source tools that can foster researcher activities and support technology transfer among all forestry stakeholders, and (3) a clear lack exist in sensors and platforms interoperability for large-scale applications and for enabling data interoperability.

Enforceability of decisions of the Agricultural Paying Agency in matters of direct payments

Since its inception, the Common Agricultural Policy has been the largest among all common European policies. The main objective of the Common agricultural policy is food sovereignty in the European Union, stabilization of farmers' incomes and, at present, support for non-production functions of agriculture and environmental protection. Given the rising input prices and the time mismatch between supply and demand for agricultural products, the first pillar of the CAP has become a key tool for sustaining the desired competitiveness of agricultural products in the EU Member States. Direct payments have become an important tool for Slovak farmers, and therefore their effective implementation is essential for their continued existence or development. The aim of the paper was to point out the weak enforceability of direct payments to eligible users of agricultural land if there is a conflicting legal entitlement to provide a direct payment in accordance with §28 and §29 of Act no. 280/2017 Coll. and the resulting problems for eligible applicants.

ЕЩЕ РАЗ К ВОПРОСУ О МНОГОФУНКЦИОНАЛЬНОСТИ СЕЛЬСКИХ ТЕРРИТОРИЙ

The approaches of Russian and foreign scientists to studying rural areas multifunctionality differ significantly. Domestic researchers consider this problem from the standpoint of public goods in agricultural production, agricultural production diversification, rural population livelihoods, land use, and sustainable development of rural areas. In all cases, we are talking about implementation of functions within rural areas without raising the question of buying and selling their intangible attributes. In foreign publications, two pragmatic approaches are seen within the concept of multifunctionality. The first approach is the market perception of rural areas as consumer spaces. In this case, the intangible attributes of the territories (landscape, nature, heritage or culture) are considered as a sold and bought product. The second approach is an approach from the standpoint of protection against negative market consequences in international food trade. The non-productive functions of agriculture are taken into account in the WTO negotiations as non-trade factors. This helps to protect the agriculture of many countries from the destructive effects of foreign trade. The article proposes to move from staged studies of the issue of multifunctionality to a constructive consideration of the material and non-material potential for implementing the rural areas' production and non-production functions. The purpose of the study is to determine the material and non-material basis of rural areas multifunctionality using the example of the North-West of Russia. The objectives of the study are to establish the capabilities of rural areas to perform their functions of: a) the international, b) the federal, c) the regional and d) the local significance; and on the basis of the idea of multifunctionality, to determine the ways for creating consumer spaces in rural areas. The following methods were used: decomposition of goals, the index one, the monographic and the grouping method. We used the materials by: Rosstat, Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, Ministry of Culture of Russia. Municipal areas with the orientation of agricultural products to the international, federal and regional markets have been identified. The characteristic of intangible attributes - the carriers of non-production functions of rural areas for the international, federal, regional and local levels - was given. The objects of specially protected natural areas and objects of cultural heritage are considered in accordance with their level of importance. The sequence of forming the consumer spaces in rural areas has been established in the direction from defining a geographical image through creating an image to developing a brand.

Harmonising, improving and using social and recreational data in National Forest Inventories across Europe

Key messageNational Forest Inventories (NFIs) hold promise for monitoring and valuing of non-productive forest functions, including social and recreational services. European countries use a range of methods to collect social and recreational information within their NFI methodologies. Data collected frequently included general and recreation-specific infrastructure, but innovative approaches are also used to monitor recreational use and social abuse.ContextSocial and recreational indicators are increasingly valued in efforts to measure the non-productive value of forests in Europe. National Forest Inventories (NFIs) can be used to estimate recreational and social usage of forest land at a national level and relate this use to other biophysical, spatial and topographical features. Nonetheless, there is little information concerning the extent.AimsThe study aims to identify the coverage of social and recreational data present in European NFIs including the types of data recorded as part of the NFI methodologies across European countries. It also aims to examine contrasting methods used to record social and recreational data and present recommendations for ways forward for countries to integrate these into NFI practice.MethodsA pan-European questionnaire was designed and distributed to 35 counties as part of the EU-funded project Distributed, Integrated and Harmonised Forest Information for Bioeconomy Outlooks (DIABOLO). The questionnaire probed countries on all social and recreational data that was included within NFIs. Qualitative response data was analysed and recoded to measure the extent of social and recreational data recoded in European NFIs both as a function of the number of variable categories per country and the number of countries recording particular variables.ResultsThirty-one countries reported at least one social or recreational variable over 12 categories of data. The most frequently recorded variables included ownership, general transport infrastructure and recreation-specific infrastructure. Countries collecting data over many different categories included Switzerland, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Luxemburg and Denmark.ConclusionThe study proposes a specific set of indicators, based upon countries with well-developed social and recreational data in their NFIs, which could be used by other countries, and report on the extent to which these are currently collected across Europe. It discusses results and makes a series of recommendations concerning priorities for the inclusion of social and recreational data in European NFIs.

Tourist Competitiveness of Polish Rural Areas

Purpose: The process of diversifying economic activity in rural areas and incorporating new non-agricultural and non-production functions into the rural space is currently one of the key determinants of development in these areas. A comparative assessment of Poland's competitiveness against selected European countries has been made in the study. The main objective was to present the conditions of international tourist competitiveness of rural areas in Poland in comparison to other European areas. Design/Methodology/Approach: An in-depth analysis of Poland's competitiveness as a tourist region against the European countries was carried out taking into consideration individual indicators of the second pillar. The study uses a synthetic tourist competitiveness index and panel regression to demonstrate the determinants of this phenomenon. Findings: On the basis of the conducted research, it has been shown that the natural and landscape value of Poland's agricultural areas is highly assessed on a European scale. Therefore, for many consumers in the European Union, Poland is increasingly seen as an attractive region for tourists. At the same time, the importance of these factors in the demand for tourist places has been demonstrated by distinguishing selected aspects of these conditions. Economic factors affecting internal demand as well as environmental and institutional conditions turned out to be the key ones. Practical Implications: The presented considerations are of great importance for practical reasons. They constitute an indicator which, under certain conditions can influence the increase of tourist competitive attractiveness of rural areas in an international perspective. Therefore, they allow to indicate the proper structure of investments and activities aimed at valuing public goods by both private and public entities. Originality/Value: The development of rural areas in the current conditions requires the development of non-agricultural and non-production functions. The article indicates the importance of individual resources and conditions in the proposed model. Not only was their role emphasized, but mutual relations between the factors considered were determined.

Organised Physical Activity in the Forests of the Warsaw and Tricity Agglomerations, Poland.

Research Highlights: The achieved results indicate that in the period of 2010–2016, the number of sporting events (running, cycling and walking) as well as the number of participants has increased many times. Methods: A geostatistical method, i.e., kriging, was used to check the distance-based relationship between agglomerations proximity and sporting events. The questionnaire surveys were used to determine the reasons for physical activity in the forest. Results: The analysis of the impact of the scope of the urban agglomerations on the number of organised physical activities proved that, in both cases (Warsaw and Tricity), most events take place in forests located close to these cities. The larger the distance to Warsaw or Tricity, the lower the number of sporting events and the lower the number of participants. The reasons why people take up physical activity are mainly to improve their health and physical condition, reduce stress and improve wellbeing. Conclusions: The conducted research indicates a significant increase in the importance of non-productive functions of forests located in the vicinity of urban agglomerations, as well as the need for continuous monitoring of actions taken by foresters to promote active lifestyles.

ROZWÓJ ROLNICTWA INDYWIDUALNEGO W KONTEKŚCIE ZACHOWANIA USŁUG EKOSYSTEMOWYCH GLEBY

The issue of ecosystem services is a relatively new concept in economic theory. This is the concept considered problematic, due to the difficulty of defining the benefits provided to people by ecosystems and their measurement and valuation. Some of these services are strongly associated with soil. Soil is one of the basic environmental resources necessary to conduct agricultural production. It fulfills many of non-production functions and provides services that are essential to human existence. Based on the crucial classification developed by the United Nations, we attribute providing the following ecosystem services to soil: basic/supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural. Variety of services which are produced by soil causes the need to pay more attention to its quality, which is to a large extent derived from agricultural practices. The assessment of agriculture in the context of the farms’ organization allows to determine whether the present profile of agricultural production is conducive to maintaining environmental services or whether it destabilizes environmental processes. What seems especially important from this perspective is highlighting the changes in agriculture over the years, in the context of their impact on the condition of the natural environment. The aim of the paper is to indicate changes taking place in agriculture in Poland relevant to soil ecosystem services. The study was based on public data of 2005, 2007, 2016 from the Statistics Poland (GUS), gathered in the Farms Structure Survey. The research covered all private farms in Poland from 1 ha of agricultural land in good agricultural and environmental conditions. The results have shown the dynamic development of agriculture in Poland after accession to the EU, although many of the observed changes can threaten soil ecosystem services. The progressive crop diversification, including the cultivation of winter species, nitrogen fixing crops and catch crops were assessed positively. Problematic issues were, on the one hand, the process of farms’ withdrawal from livestock production, on the other hand, increasing livestock production concentration.

Drivers for farmland value revisited: adapting the returns discount model (RDM) to the sustainable paradigm

In recent studies many researchers have identified non-agricultural attributes of land that significantly contribute to its value. They claim that the increasing proportion of the value of land may now be explained by environmental amenities in rural areas. On the other hand, mainstream economics says that farmland values are determined by the discounted stream of returns (present value model). The main aim of this work was to adapt neoclassical concept of the Returns Discount Model (RDM) of Saphiro–Gordon type to the case of a land market in Poland. We introduced a modified RDM (i.e. the multilevel variance component model) to answer whether it remains applicable to the valuation of farmland in the context of sustainable agriculture. It was found that in spite of the growing role of non-productive functions of agriculture the improved RDM continues to perform well as a tool to assess changes in land prices.

Indication of production and non-production functions in rural landscape

Indication of production and non-production functions in rural landscape

Wellness Tourism and Non-Productive Function of Forests

Abstract Subject and purpose of work: The research problem is wellness tourism and its connections with forest economy. The main goal is to determine the mutual connections occurring between wellness tourism and forest economy. Materials and methods: The research was carried out in three stages using various methods: a comparative analysis of 39 spas, standardised inspections of facilities offering health tourism services and the selection of a facility being a model of good practice (case study). Results: The most important forms of the small tourist infrastructure offered to patients in forest areas are hiking and bicycle paths (92%), as well as horse trails and viewing points (about 50%). Cluster initiatives and cooperation with local governments and forest districts, consisting in joint promotion, are important. A diagram was developed, showing the interactions of forest economy and wellness tourism. Conclusions: Providers of spa services and State Forests are natural partners, yet the level of cooperation is low and mainly involves promotional activities. It is advisable to create a nationwide forest and sanatorium spa organisation that would coordinate activities in the field of forest economy to take advantage of tourism and health-promoting assets of forests.

Measurement and valuation of non-productive functions of forest in the accounting system – selected features

Forest brought through human work that uses the natural forces of nature for the needs of society has become an inseparable part of the present and future of civilization. An important task of multifunctional forest management is to mitigate and avoid conflicts between the different functions of forests (produc- tive and non-productive), and consideration of their complementary nature. The importance of nonproduction functions of forests is growing steadily, to the point that some academics and practitioners are trying to express them in money. They conclude that their value is several (or more) times higher than the value of the effects of production functions. The article aims to (1) present valuation methods for nonproductive forest functions that are practiced and can be used in forest management; (2) identify accounting tools that will support the measurement and valuation of non-production forest functions and provide information for decision-making processes for the management staff of the State Forests. For the purposes of this study the following hypothesis was made: Previous solutions in the field of measurement and valuation of non-production forest functions within the accounting system are insufficient as a source of information for stakeholders of the Polish Forests. On the basis of analysis of accounting literature and national and international regulations in the field of measurement and valuation in the accounting system, the method of induction and deduction, the authors' experience, and information gathered during interviews, the hypothesis has been verified.

Water Retention in a Small Agricultural Catchment and its Potential Improvement by Design of Water Reservoirs – A Case Study of the Bílý Potok Catchment (Czechia)

Abstract Water retention in the landscape is discussed in the context of conservation and improvement of both its productive and non-productive functions. We analysed the retention potential of a small agricultural catchment associated with the Bílý potok brook, investigating the possibility to improve its retention capacity and slow down the surface runoff, thus increasing the underground water resources. Method of curve numbers was used for that purposes. From results, it emerged that present maximum water retention in the Bílý potok catchment is 96.2 mm. It could increase by 101.3 mm in case of grassing about 20% arable land threatened by soil erosion. As next possibility to retain water from precipitations in landscape, capacity and transformation effect of reservoirs designed in master plans was analysed. The latest programming tools working in the GIS environment were used to assess the retention capacity of both the catchment surface and the reservoirs. Analysing master plans in the catchment, it was found that 16 designed water reservoirs (from 31) have a good potential to intercept water and transform flood discharges. In the result, priority for building of reservoirs was recommended according to their pertinence and efficiency in the studied catchment. Presented complex approach can be widely implemented, especially for better effectivity and cohesion of landscape planning and land consolidations processes.