Development of Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas Characterised by Great Natural Value

Abstract

The red lists of species threatened with extinction and of disappearing natural habitats grow longer and the pace of the natural environment's degradation and loss of biological diversity increases every year. In this context it is an extremely important fact that a considerable part of biological diversity is being used for economic purposes and is subject to the influence - both negative and positive, of such use. Amounts needed to stop the degradation of the natural environment and halt the loss of biological diversity far exceed the financial abilities of public institutions and funds. It is impossible to ensure a long-term and effective protection of the natural environment without the participation of its users - entrepreneurs and entities financing investments that are linked to the business sector. This conviction resulted in the decisions of the Strategy of Sustainable Development adopted by the European Union in 2001, in the decisions of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and in the Business and Biodiversity Initiative launched by EU in 2007. Many examples can be quoted which prove that enterprises based on the use of natural resources can play an active and positive role in the protection and balanced use of these resources. It is necessary to create advisory and economic instruments assisting and encouraging enterprises to undertake dedicated economic activity, which is designed to ensure the simultaneous achievement of expected economic and environmental results.