In the previous decade, dwelling- houses development took place mainly in suburbs of cities, especially the large ones. Considering its capital and metropolitan functions, Warsaw is a particular example of the process. Problems related to expansion of new settlements, which can be observed in the areas of Warsaw suburban communes, refer to processes such as: transformation of functions and character of rural housing, conflicts arising from location of new dwellings in the neighbourhood of preserved areas, functional and infrastructure connections with a city and spatial order of the new housing. The problems are presented on the example of two suburban Warsaw communes, Łomianki and Michałowice.

It is not easy to elaborate a clear, unequivocal, precise, good, nation-wide conception of policy towards Polish villages and agriculture. It is difficult to mark out appropriate, certain direction of changes in villages which would satisfy all interested parties in this problem, especially farmers, breeders, industry acting for agriculture, entrepreneurs, comestible consumers, ecologists, politicians, etc. Transformations in Polish villages both in the way agricultural economies function and within the limits of aggregate rural existence are necessary. That is why I believe that so as not to make mistakes, which occurred in other union countries ie. Holland, Germany, France, and Great Britain it is essential to look acutely at these countries, especially at all transformations, renewal of village which functioned there, analyse them thoroughly and compare them to Polish conditions. However the objective evaluation of those transformations is not easy, especially that those countries underwent periods of rises and falls during the last few dozen years. They searched for ways out of various crisis. Poland, having the opportunity of benefiting from experiences and effects of those Union members should draw the appropriate conclusions, chose the best options, heeding the influence of changes to environment in Polish villages, village nature protection, preserving the typical rural landscape, cultural traditions, social integration, preventing village inhabitants from migration to cities, development of ecological and biodynamic agriculture, etc. All changes in Polish villages should be directed at ecology and protection of rural areas.

Nowadays the traditional rural landscape of Mazovia created for many ages is changed as the effect of following social and economic transformation. We observe it's degradation in relation to many aspects. The negative changes included: destruction of spatial order connected with the free choice of architecture; the conveyance of urban arduous productive and service functions to villages connected with creation of new works and warehouses on fortuitous places; the disturbance of surroundings' perception caused by the chaos of ground technical arrangements and chaos of information made by ubiquitous aggressive elements of advertising located along the roads; the disturbance of surroundings and the nature manifested by "wild" dumping grounds of rugs; irreversible processesof destroying the sculpture of earth made by wasteful exploitation of scientific resources connected with forming of grovel-pits, sand-pits and excavations; reduction of agricultural landscape to poverty connected with the renunciation of agriculture and formation of waste lands; elimination of typical forms and structures of plants created by people - wayside and field afforestation, reduction of trees from farmyards and cemeteries, resignation of flower front-gardens, common replace native plants by foreign species; the commonness in using of mass-produced garden decorative elements and small architecture; insufficient protection of historical buildings, etc. All of that processes have destructive nature in meaning of superiority of spatial order's preservation and the respect of still existing scientific and cultural matter. If they stay imperceptibly and if we don't stop that occurrences they will threaten the irrevocable loss of lots of valuable and cultivated for many years typical elements of the Mazovia's landscape which decided about its cultural values (the urban structure of villages; historical forms of architecture - traditional rustic buildings with front-gardens, mansion-houses, palaces and churches; elements of agricultural culture - fields crossed by afforestation of pollard willows, old linden access roads, trees planted in relation with houses, churches and cemeteries, wayside crosses and wayside shrines). The rural Mazovia's landscape rich of historical elements and developed with the harmony of tradition is our cultural heritage. That's why the economic progress of that region should concern the process of sensible maintenance of beauty and harmonious landscape with the idea of equable development.

Parks are a specific form of area management, built up with natural and artist-architecture elements. They are related territorially with thet place where villagers live and work; herefore they should realize a social and scientific function. However, as tourist objects, they should carry out cultural, didactic, ecological, sanitary and aesthetic functions. Most of the parks were formed in the 18th century in place of older ensembles, sometimes as a result of their transformations. The appearance of parks is a result of economical development of society and changes in aesthetic taste, e.g. in Gorzow park, where the garden parterres were transformed into flower meadows and glades. English style fashion introduces the idea of landscape style and park. Signs of that style can be found in the park ensembles in question, where the beauty of natural forms like solitary trees e.g. European ash in nodding variety, a weeping willow which solitarily grows over a pond, or oak and beech which grow in groups. Irregularities in the terrain, such as naturally shaped waterfronts and ponds. Avenues and paths are forming arches, avoiding symmetry, e.g. on Park Mountain in Międzygorze. Rural parks, the younger ones, which were created in the 19th century had a typical, naturalistic character. They are the most valuable ones from the naturalists point of view, however poor in relation to architecture and composition. They form structural arrangements, similar to forests and have a heterogeneous composition of trees and scrub species. Trees which grow there are usually well adapted to regional soil conditions, they have a shapely form, high height and are characterized by high development dynamics. The presented results apply to the valuation of conservation of composition arrangement and floristic composition of rural parks in Bystrzyca Kłodzka district. Projects of two cycling paths based on the landscape value of the area and the attractiveness of catalogued objects. There exist eighty tress and scrubs taxa, within which sixteen are gymnosperms and sixty four are angiosperms, forty five taxa (56% of the whole investigated plants) belong to native species.

West Polesie Biosphere Reserve was established in April 2002 in an area of 139 000 ha in Łęczyńsko-Włodawskie Lake District in Lublin Voivodeship. Poleski National Park is in the centre of the Reserve, in its western part - the Landscape Park of Łęczyńskie Lake District, and in the east - Sobibor Landscape Park. The main characteristic feature of the Reserve is the fine-mosaic ecological structure of the landscape with numerous lakes, peat bogs, meadows and forests in depressions and patches of fields on higlands of limestone substratum. From the 1950's to the 1980's the area of Łęczyńsko-Włodawskie Lake District was subjected to largescale draining. 61.2 per cent of all marshy grounds were drained. Seven out of sixty- eight lakes have dried up. From the mid-70's the remaining lakes of the Disctrict have been affected by rapidly spreading recreational development of the land. By the end of the 20th century the majority of the lakes made available for recreation had had their tourist carrying capacity exceeded, and, in several cases, it was over fourfold. To prevent degradation of nature, tourist and aesthetic values of the region a number of protective measures have been taken. Initially, in the 60's and 70's, they took the form of conventional local conservation (creation of nature reserves), then, in the 80's, nearly the whole area of Łęczyńsko Włodawskie Lake District was recognised as a part of the regional "Ecological System of Protected Areas". Granting the status of Biosphere Reserves to the whole region by UNESCO has started a new chapter in natural resources management. It is oriented towards revival of degraded areas with simultaneous revitalization of rural settlement, as well as development of agricultural production in harmony with nature. Natural resources management system of the Biosphere Reserve involves four interrelated subsystems: diagnostic, planning, decision-making and control. Both the cooperation of nature protection service with local governments and a holistic approach to all of the components of the landscape are of special importance for these actions. This paper presents the chosen methods and techniques of natural space resources management of the Reserve, which constitute the above mentioned system. Furthermore, it describes the effects of their application.

A modern village is a place of many contrasts and conflicts. Apart from multiple social problems, like unemployment and dearth, there still accrue others which are connected with the change of village character following the entrance of Poland to the European Union. Frustration, which is created through the conflict between traditional understanding of the world by inhabitants of villages and requirements of the modern economy, often surpasses many people. To limit those disadvantageous occurrences which happen nowadays in so many regions, it is worth surveying closely the terrains of our villages, especially those which are often considered to be the least valuable. It is there where the unused potential of possibilities of development exists for many communes. Wastelands, because they are in question, can become a source of income and benefits, less calculable but also valuable. Agritourism is only one of the most popular examples in which to use wastelands. Others, less popular will also be described in the following article.