The Contribution of the Natural Environment to Sustainable Development on the Example of Rural Areas in the Region of Warmia and Mazury

The natural environment is an element of sustainable development which affects social and economic growth. High nature value is a factor that often contributes to conflict between users of space. In the process of social and economic development, efforts should be made to prevent the degradation of the natural environment. Environmental threats could pose a major obstacle to sustainable development. The potential of the natural environment has to be identified before the implementation of effective conservation measures. This paper characterizes the potential of agriculture and tourism as the main economic drivers in the Region of Warmia and Mazury which rely on the natural environment in line with the principles of sustainability. The main source of information for this analysis was the data supplied by the Central Statistical Office in Poland. The region's environmental potential was evaluated in view of natural features that contribute to the development of agriculture and tourism. Selected indicators of environmental potential were determined separately for agriculture and tourism. The indicators were normalized and expressed numerically for a separate comparison of agriculture and tourism functions. The synthetic Perkal index was applied to the analyzed features to evaluate the environmental potential of each function separately. The resulting numerical values of each function were compared to determine the environmental potential of each municipality. In the last stage of the process, the results of the analysis were compared with the strategic development goals in the Region of Warmia and Mazury.