The implementation of the new legislative regulation of the Ministry of Environment for forested fields has begun, concerning 6.9 million acres, which due to the abandonment of agricultural activities gradually turned into forest lands, as a result of which their ownership is now disputed. The ten points of the new legislation and the ten steps that owners must follow to secure their property.

In the meantime, the posting of the new revised forest maps has begun, in order to make objections to the areas where it is allowed, with the goal of having the forest maps ratified throughout the country in 2022. It is noted that the posting process had started in the spring of 2021 and due to the large mobilizations of farmers and organizations in Crete, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese and the Ionian Islands, a six-month extension was given, in order to correct the maps.

• What is the government's new woodland initiative?

Law 4915/2022 (Issue A 63/24. 03.2022) of the Ministry of the Interior on the fight against corruption, which includes the provisions (Article 93) on forested fields, was published in the Government Gazette.

According to the new legislation:

1. The State does not assert ownership rights in lands appearing on aerial photographs of 1945, or, if they are not clear, of 1960, in agricultural form that were subsequently forested, regardless of the form they acquired later, over which the State does not establish ownership rights based on title.

2. Protocols of administrative expulsion that have been issued for the above lands are revokedακόμη και αν τελεσιδίκησαν δικαστικά.

3. Lands with an area of ​​up to thirty (30) acres may be used for agricultural and arboricultural exploitation, without allowing further change of their use.

4. The right to request a change of use for agricultural and arboricultural exploitation has those who claim ownership rights over the above lands, by virtue of legally transcribed titles.

5. The change of use is permitted, following a permit granted by the General Director of Forestry to which the relevant Forestry Service is subordinate, after a recommendation by the concerned Forester or the Director of Forestry, if there is no Forestry Office in the prefecture.

6.Especially, for areas larger than five (5) acres, in order to be granted a permit, it is established, based on a relevant economic and technical study, which is accompanied by a topographical diagram of the area and drawn up by a private geotechnical scientist.

7. In the above areas, in addition to the permitted intervention, the other provisions of the forestry legislation regarding permitted interventions are also applied.

8. Fields that have acquired the form of a forest area are not subject to the provisions of the forestry legislation and the removal of growing forest vegetation is permitted, after the permission of the relevant Forester or the Director of Forests if there is no Forestry Office in the prefecture, after application of the person claiming ownership rights to the area. The interested party, in order to prove his legal interest in requesting the removal of forest vegetation, submits with his application:

a) either notarial deeds,

b) either statement of real estate data (E9),

c) either affidavits,

d) or any other element from which its legal link with the property can be presumed.

9.Administrative acts,issued pursuant to the forest legislation for the protection of the above lands, are revoked.

10. The same procedure also applies to the forest properties allocated as lots, which appear on the aerial photographs closest to the time of the grant in an agricultural form and were subsequently forested, regardless of the form they acquired later.

• What is the difference between Wooded Field within a Forest or within a Forest Area?

The legislation provides different treatment for afforested fields, depending on the form they later acquired (forest or woodland). The more specific characterization of the area as forest or forestry, for the application of the regulation, is carried out:

a) by the Forestry Committee of the Regional Unit, for the areas where there is a posted forest map, even if the specific area has been declared reforestable,

b) by issuing a deed of characterization, in the areas not covered by a posted forest map.

• What should wooded field owners do?

1) To draw up a Topographic Map in which the anthropogenic activities on these lands will be accurately recorded, such as: old trees, terraces, ruins of huts, watering cisterns and ditches, traces of drenchels, corrals, warehouses and in general any particular element that can prove that there was ancient human activity at the site.

2) To record with photos all the tracks and the old trees.

3) To look for contiguous title deeds.

4) To look for old documents, handwritten leases, subsidy from frost, subsidies from Olive, Viticultural land registry etc.

5) To declare the real extent of their properties in E9.

6) In the absence of a title deed, two affidavits of witnesses certifying that the area is arable must be drawn up before a notary public.

7) File an Objection in case the Forest Map is posted or an overdue request due to an error in case there is a partially approved forest map in the area.

8) To file an objection-request for correction within the deadline, in the Land Registry during the posting process with all supporting documents.

9) Because many parcels of land are hereditary and the original owners have passed away, the new owners should request from the old Community or Municipality records, any certificate issued by the Community Leader or Mayor, for the ownership status of the property.

10) Finally, search for every element that could suggest the owner's legal relationship with the property.

• What are the biggest problems encountered with forest maps that need to be solved?

1. Errors in map rendering that resulted in incorrect designations and must be corrected remotely by the Forest Service.
2. Not all the decisions of the Administration were included in the corrected maps.
3. Overdue applications due to error from private individuals in the areas where forest maps have been sanctioned, which concern approximately 50% of the country, were not examined.
4. All renewable, forest and grassland lands were considered public lands and the Greek State made a declaration of ownership in the Land Registry.
5. Forested Fields shown in the 1945 aerial photograph to have been arable land and subsequently abandoned and forested, are characterized as forested land and their ownership by the Greek State is disputed.
6. Lands that have been cultivated for 50-70 years and have been registered in the olive and viticultural cadastre and are subsidized by the European Union, are considered as forest lands that have been illegally changed use,as a result of which ownership is not recognized and the their subsidies.
7. Arbitrary "Residential Densities" in the forests and forest lands, which were excluded from the posting of the forest maps, should be declared on a special electronic platform, in order to then examine the possibility of their regularization.

• What is the problem with Deforested Areas?

One of the major issues that have emerged with the posting of the forest maps is the afforestation of agricultural and grassland areas, due to the abandonment of the fields and the occupation of the inhabitants with animal husbandry. Apart from urbanism, in recent years there has also been a shift of the local population, mainly on the islands, to tourism. Finally, a large part of the fields was quickly forested, due to its proximity to a forest area or due to the local soil and climate conditions, e.g. on its islands in the Aegean with the rapid growth of scrubby and scrubby forest vegetation. As a result of this, the Greek State claims the properties of private individuals, presenting the presumption in favor of the State.

However, the problem also remains in Crete, Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Cyclades, Kythira, Antikythira, Ionia and Mani, where in these areas the presumption in favor of the State does not apply, i.e. the burden of proof of ownership falls equally on the private individual and the State and for this, objections should be submitted against the Forest Charter as well as an objection to the land registry, so that the supporting documents - contracts can be examined by the competent committees.

In Greece, approximately 6% of the total area of ​​the Forest Maps corresponds to wooded fields. In fact, the regions with the highest percentage of forested fields are: Arcadia, Messinia, Ioannina, Evia, Laconia, Ilia, Achaea, Drama and Magnesia.

The result of all of the above is that over 6 million acres appear in the Land Registry as Forested Fields and are today claimed as ownership by the Greek State.

• What are considered forested fields?

In order for an area to be considered private and recognized by the state, as an old field that has ceased to be cultivated and forested, the following conditions must be met cumulatively:

(a) the lands appear as agricultural on aerial photographs of the year 1945 or, if these are not clear, of the year 1960, and were subsequently forested due to abandonment. That is, they should be seen on the posted forest map, which is the orthophoto map of the Land Registry for the year 2007-2009, as a forest form, and

(b) that there are title deeds (contracts) for these lands prior to February 23, 1946 and that they have been transferred to the mortgage registry.

"Postman of Magnesia"

SOURCE: ecopress.gr