The 2007–2013 agri-environmental program as an instrument for the retardation of natural resources in Poland

This paper describes regional differences in agricultural management methods, and attempts to present the implementation scale of the 2007–2013 agri-environmental program as an instrument slowing down the depletion of natural resources in Poland. Two indicators were used as the basis for the regional analysis of this Program: the number of applications (as a percentage of the total number of farms) and the amount of funds received per hectare of agricultural land. The geographic scope of the analysis covered the whole country and its different voivodeships, with districts being used as basic units. A synthetic indicator of payment absorption levels under the agri-environmental program and spatial autocorrelation methods were employed. The financial support had a positive impact on the concentration of agricultural land covered by additional agri-environmental payments, which was noticeable in north and north-east Poland. The research shows that the instruments slowing down the depletion of natural resources – such as the agri-environmental program – provide encouragement, above all, for the development of multifunctional agriculture. The multifunctionality of agriculture is more accentuated in Pomorskie, Zachodniopomorskie, Lubuskie, Dolnośląskie and Podkarpackie voivodeships, and less so in the south-central part of the country, i.e. in Opolskie, Śląskie, Małopolskie and Łódzkie voivodeships.