An electronic platform for declaring offenses in forests and forest lands will be opened in the coming days. By paying a fee of 250 euros, interested persons will be able to secure “immunity” for an as yet indefinite period of time, until the applications are considered and lead to urban development or no area. This is the second resolution on this issue since 2016, the previous one was canceled by the State Council in 2019.

As Forests General Secretary Konstantinos Arabosis told K, the electronic platform is already ready, as the technical problems identified in the previous period have been overcome. The platform will operate through the Hellenic Land Registry website. “With a fee of 250 euros, the unauthorized ones will be exempted from demolition, and the sanctions against them will be frozen. Those of them, which will then be recognized as meeting certain conditions, will be able to legalize for 30 years,” reminds Mr. Arabosis.

The procedure was provided for two years ago in Law 4685/20, but has not yet been implemented. The regulation applies only to residential units (and their accompanying properties), broadly following the restrictions set by the legalization legislation of the previous decade: they must be built before July 28, 2011 (red line time), they are outside the Natura zones, archaeological sites, seashores, streams, etc.

Applicants must submit a responsible declaration and pay a fee of 250 euros.

Those interested must submit an application that includes a description of the residence, a responsible statement that the building meets the above conditions for inclusion in the regulations and a fee of 250 euros. An illegal building is automatically exempted from demolition, while all sanctions imposed on it (fines, administrative expulsion, etc.) are suspended. The activation of the platform is expected to put an end (probably for good) to the small number of illegal demolitions in the forests that have taken place in previous years – as a reminder, illegal demolitions on the beaches were also suspended for two years.

According to the regulations, after the completion of the collection of statements, economic and technical studies will be prepared (one per region), which will reflect the overall picture of the problem. Then the Ministry of Natural Resources, through presidential decrees, will launch the urban development of these territories, which will allow preserving forest reserves for up to 30 years (which, apparently, is tantamount to full legalization). Those legalized will be asked to pay a fine, the method of calculation of which has not yet been determined. As recently determined (law 4964/22), the application process will last until December 31, 2022.

The first attempt to legalize illegal logging in forests was made with Law 4389/16, which was declared unconstitutional in 2019. Based on this ordinance, 115 municipalities declared 292,069 acres of residential areas: most in Attica with 115,873 acres of residential areas, Corinthia (42,206 acres), Chalkidiki (19,464 acres), Thessaloniki (19,050 acres), Boeotia (12,880 acres) ) and Arta (12,233 acres). The municipality that declared most illegal settlements on forest land was the municipality of Loutraki-Perachora-Agios Theodoros (35,599 acres).

However, this mechanism may have a similar fate. The CoE Plenary reaffirmed in 2019 that changing the use of forests and forest land is exclusively permissible if agricultural exploitation or other use imposed for reasons of public interest has a priority for the national economy. However, in no case, the decision says, their use as housing can not be considered as a reason of the highest public interest.