The article deals with the problem of private investment and protection activities in Natura 2000 areas. In order to determine to what extent private owners are involved in conservation activities and whether the restrictions resulting from protective measures significantly affect the level of investment activity, a survey based on a questionnaire was carried out on a group of farmers with farms within which three areas of the European ecological network are located. It was found, inter alia, that owners rarely undertook investment projects on their farms in recent years, and those that were implemented very often were not subject to environmental impact assessment. The study also shows that the surveyed farmers on a smaller scale engaged in activities directly aimed at the protection of valuable ecosystems, despite the fact that they are obliged to do so by provisions in the plans of protective tasks. Some of the respondents would be willing to consider developing an additional, environmentally friendly service activity, but on condition that they receive appropriate support, especially in the form of tax preferences and training. The general conclusion that emerges from the study is that the functioning of new forms of nature protection does not have to stimulate more pro-ecological attitudes, and perhaps, in the absence of adequate environmental awareness, negatively affect economic and investment activity.