The text of the new circular is as follows:
“Instructions for implementing the provision of article 67 of Law 998/1979 on forested fields, as applicable after its replacement by Article 93 of Law 4915/2022 (A΄ 63)”.
On the occasion of questions submitted to our Service, regarding the relevant provision of article 67, as it applies after its recent replacement by Law 4915/2022, we provide the following instructions:
1. With the above provisions, on the one hand, the ownership status of the lands, which proved to be agricultural in the past and were forested due to abandonment, is regulated on the one hand, and on the other hand, their protection and management according to the form of these lands in the A/F of the years 1945 or 1960 and today.
In particular, the hitherto foreseen administrative procedure for the recognition of said lands as private is abolished on the basis of title deeds which date back to before February 23, 1946 (the date of introduction of the Civil Code) and it is expressly stated that the State does not assert ownership rights over the said lands, unless it establishes ownership rights over them based on a title.
Furthermore, in terms of management and protection, it is envisaged that the areas in question will be included in the forestry legislation, since they currently have the form of a forest under par. 1 of article 3 of the law. 998/1979 (par. 2 of article 67), otherwise the exception of these if they have the form of a forest area (par. 3 of article 67).
2. Scope of the provision of article 67
The scope of the above provision includes lands (a) which appear as agricultural in the A/F of 1945 or if they are not clear from the year 1960, and were subsequently forested due to abandonment regardless of the form they later acquired and (b) over which the State does not establish ownership rights based on title or are not recorded as public estates.
Therefore for the application of the provision and upon the request of the interested party who asserts ownership rights over an area, which appears as AD on the posted or approved forest map, it is examined by the Forester (or the Director of Forestry if there is no Forester in the regional unit) whether any existence of State property titles (from a will, donation, court decision, etc.) or the possible registration of the area in the book of public estates or its possible belonging to the ownership of the State for another reason, e.g. as a shared or available residential area.
The above application is accompanied by the section of the relevant forest map with the area in question identified on it or details of its identification, such as a topographical or cadastral diagram or coordinates of peaks, as well as a Certificate from the relevant Land Office that the area is not registered as public property.
In the event that the controlling body (Forest Officer or the Director of Forestry if there is no Forest Office in the regional unit) establishes the existence of fundamental elements of State ownership, from the above, responds to the applicant regarding the impossibility of examining his request during the procedure of Article 67 of Law 998 /1979 as applicable.
Otherwise, if the State does not establish title-based ownership rights over the said area, then the competent Forestry Service (Forestry Office or D/ of Forests without Forestry) grants the interested party, upon his request and in connection with this transfer, a relevant Certificate of the non-existence of fundamental elements of the State’s right of ownership.
3 Next, as long as the conditions for the application of article 67 of Law 998/1979 as applicable are met, as defined in the previous paragraph, the more special nature of the area is established, in order to determine its inclusion in paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 of the article 3 of Law 998/1979, by the Forestry Committee of the Regional Unit of paragraph 6 of Article 3 of Law 3208/2003 if there is a posted forest map (category of form/coverage “Forest Map”: AD ), otherwise with a deed of designation during the procedure of article 14 of law 998/1979 as applicable.
In the event that the area takes the form of a forest, it is subject to forestry legislation, able to be allocated for agricultural and arboricultural exploitation, under the more specific conditions and procedure of par. 2 of article 67 or for the realization of another permissible intervention, in accordance with the Sixth Chapter of Law 998/1979, as applicable.
In other words, if the forested field is currently in the form of a forest area, then it is excluded from the forestry legislation, reformed according to the relevant forest map, according to the decision of the Forestry Committee. Subsequently issued for the removal of forest vegetation, the relevant permit as specifically defined in par. 3 of article 67.
Protocols of administrative removal that have been issued and concern areas of par. 1 of article 67, i.e. forested fields on which it emerges from the above control that the State does not establish ownership rights based on a title, are revoked, even if they have become final judicially, without requiring for the said revocation the verification of the more special nature of the area by the relevant Forestry Committee.
- The following instructions are provided for more specific questions asked to our Service regarding the application of Article 67:
– Regarding the more specific question about how to deal with unauthorized interventions in AD areas (of the forest map) without having submitted a request for inclusion in Article 67, the following answer is due: in this case, the inclusion of the area in Article 67 will be investigated ex officio, in order to ascertain whether or not the conditions for its declaration as reforestation are met, an action which occurs in case the area in question is subject to par. 2 of the above article and not to par. 3 thereof.
-On the more specific question about how to deal with cases in which objections have been raised against the content of the forest map and at the same time a request to the Forestry Committee with the object of the more specific characterization as a forest or forest, of an area that appears as AD on the relevant forest map, we bring to your attention the following: in principle, the movement of both of the above procedures is contradictory, since the submission of objections means questioning the forest character of the area in question, while the application to the relevant Forestry Committee implies in principle the admission of the forest character of this. Nevertheless, and given that there is no institutional prohibition – exclusion for the selection and/or prioritization of the above procedures, they can proceed in parallel or even precede the application to the Taxation Committee and its examination by it, since, after all, it (the committee) has the competence for the more specific characterization of the forested areas included in the posted forest map, regardless of its course (submission, consideration of objections, decisions on objections, correction, sanctioning of the forest map).
Finally, the verification by the relevant Forestry Committee of the more special nature (forest or forestry) of the former field that was afforested and subsequently acquired another form, in the case of subscribing the area to par 2 or to par 3 of article 67, will be carried out on the basis of an aerial photo interpretation of the year preceding the one in which the forest vegetation was removed, i.e. the closest one.
Please strictly observe the above.
DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
GEORGIOS AMYRAS
