The paper presents rules and practice of constructing village renewal plans, evaluating their contribution to the restoration of natural heritage of rural areas. There were analyzed renewal plans of 26 villages in Malopolska. In all analyzed plans the natural heritage was considered as a strength of the villages. However the planned investments (expansion of parking places, concrete walkways, construction of observation towers) do not contribute to preserve the natural character of rural areas. For this reason the author suggests that in new rural development program for 2014 – 2020 the preservation of natural heritage should be defined as an objective (and not only as a justification) of village renewal.