EN
The article presents discussion on the selected research problems associated with the topic of local development management under the presence of Natura 2000 areas. In the initial part of the article there were presented some considerations of selected authors diagnosing the current situation as well as the key regulations important for this issue. It is said that there is lack of empirical studies. Afterwards, some results of two projects that have been realized lately were characterized. The analysis concerns the attitude of local governments towards the process of creating Natura 2000 areas as well as the scale and methods of conducting environmental impact assessment (EIA) in some selected Polish municipalities. The research conducted in such directions should be continued especially due to the fact that there is necessity to increase the number of the investigated object and that the inclusion of some new threads is desired. In the further part of the article the Author focused on three potential analytic plans i. e. general approach of municipalities to the new form of nature conservation, their activity in planning and the investment policy including the problem of respect for the environment. In particular, relatively much space was devoted to the issue of competences of local government bodies, that matter in EIA procedures. They seem to be signifi cant and could provoke some adverse changes. Therefore, continuous verifi cation of some data associated with the number of investment projects is postulated.