Environmental Awareness Among the Rural Population in Natura 2000 Areas, with Bartoszyce and Sorkwity Communes as an Example

Abstract The aim of this study was to learn about environmental awareness among the inhabitants of communes in which Natura 2000 areas had been designated. Field study with the use of an interview questionnaire was conducted in 2013 in two communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie province, namely Bartoszyce and Sorkwity. The study in-volved a total of 61 inhabitants. The obtained results demonstrated that despite the actual presence of various forms of environmental protection within the areas under study, the depth of knowledge in the subject concerned was relatively low among the local population. Research shows that the respondents perceive the need for pro-environmental measures; however, they rarely take those mea-sures themselves, unless they can see economic profits in it. Even though more than half of the respondents have heard the name Natura 2000, majority of them know nothing thereof.