A press release was issued by the Hellenic Agricultural Property Owners Association in response to an article by former Minister Vangelis Apostolou expressing their thanks and agreement on this.
Press Release (Athens 28 May 2021)
The Union welcomes the voice of reason raised by the former Minister of Agriculture and current MP Mr.VANGELIS APOSTOLOU for the resolution of the Forest Problem, which has been plaguing the agricultural world for forty years.
We congratulate and thank him.
The solution he proposes is :
the reintroduction of the concept of forestry land to that defined by Law 998/79.
It is the solution that ensures the legality of the Forest Maps, because what followed with the amendments of Law 998/79, allowed agricultural property to be classified as forest land., with the consequence that a Presumption of Ownership in favour of the State is applied to it, resulting in its confiscation,
A presumption that has never been applied or imposed on agricultural property, except for forests and woodlands, and therefore this provision is contrary to Article 17 of the Constitution, which prohibits the confiscation of the private property of Greeks.
Which implies the cancellation of the Forest Maps!
And in this respect the voice of Mr Apostolos offers important services not only in the Rural World and the completion of the Land Registry, but also in the DEVELOPMENT of the COUNTRY, held back by the huge bureaucracy, which exists because, due to the unacceptable amount of land occupied by forests as a result of this absurdity, it has become impossible to draw up a land-use plan, which abolishes this whole patchwork of bureaucracy.
We hope that the competent ministers understand the correctness of his proposal and proceed immediately to amend the forestry legislation, which is now obvious.
Moreover, Mr Apostolos' proposal to restore the responsibility for these areas to the Agricultural Directorate, as has always been the case, is also very correct.
Finally, we believe that Mr Apostolou will agree, because logic is not lost, that his proposal to recognise the ownership of the above land at a later date, and to commit its use as agricultural or livestock land, does not secure the State from trespassers.
To secure state property, it is sufficient to apply the Civil Code, as has always been the case.
If some of this land can be developed through a change of use, it should be free.
Besides, the DEVELOPMENT of the country needs land and the change of their use, even in forests, cannot be the subject of forestry legislation. This is the subject of the Development Needs of the Country of Planning and Urban Planning and of course under the commitments of the principle of Sustainable Development and sustainability.
The Natural Environment is protected with the unchanged of the actual forest areas and to be precise by maintaining their balance and thank God in Greece this exceeds 45% of its surface area, which is greater than the European Union's Average Forest Cover of 35%, as demonstrated by the forest maps drawn up by the European Union for all its states.
As for the claim of the association of foresters that the declaration of agricultural property will safeguard the State Property from trespassers, apart from the fact that they are not the right people to recommend it, , we have not seen any encroachment for 40 years since the forestry law 998/79 was enacted. Not a single one!
On the contrary, the well-known forester Mr. Chlykas speaks of many lawsuits against forestry officials for trespassing on public lands, we believe through the change of their classification, in an effort to support the need for Forest Maps.
We also owe double congratulations to Mr.APOSTOLOU for this position, since as a forester he too could be driven by scientific obsessions, cross-checks and above all exaggerations, which have no place in setting the rules for the protection of the Environment.
The announcement
For forty years the rural world has been waiting to hear a reasonable voice on the forest problem, which was indeed endemic, but was magnified by the successive and erratic amendments of Law 998/79, which made the forest legislation a patchwork of provisions in which even the best lawyer has difficulty finding a beginning and an end.
This is the voice of Mr.Evangelos Apostolou, forester and former Minister of Agriculture, who in his article in the newspaper NEA of 28/4/2021 proposes the restoration of the definition of grassland - write pasture - to the one defined by Law 998/1979.
We congratulate and thank him !
This definition is no different from the definition of pastures and other agricultural property defined by the Forest Code of 1929, which was established by Eleftherios Venizelos (Law 41../1929). This should be reinstated in its entirety and automatically all problems will be solved and it will be possible and immediate to establish the Forest Maps and the cadastre.
Mr Apostolou's proposal is also very correct and for the restoration of responsibility for these to the Agricultural Directorate, as has always been the case.
We believe that Mr.Apostolou will agree, because the logic is not lost, that his proposal for the recognition of the ownership of the above-mentioned lands under the condition of maintaining the agricultural or livestock use, does not secure the State from the encroachers.
We cannot consider all Greeks to be trespassers and devalue their agricultural property by tying up their use so that trespassers do not maximise their profits.
Trespassers must be prosecuted with severe penalties for embezzlers of public funds. There are many ways.
One would be the fee of the complainant and providing evidence of encroachment with the 15% actual value of the land and tax free.
After all, if some of this land can be developed by changing its use, it must be free. After all, the DEVELOPMENT of the country needs land and the change of use of land, even by forests, cannot be the subject of forestry legislation.
This is the subject of the Development Needs of the Country of Planning and Urbanism and of course under the commitments of the principle of Sustainable Development and sustainability.
The Natural Environment is protected by the immutability of forests and actual forest areas and thank God in Greece this exceeds 45% of its surface area, which is greater than the European Union's Average Forest Cover by 35%, as demonstrated by the forest maps compiled by the European Union for all its states.
One condition that could deal with the trespassers would be the application of the applicable law of the Civil Code, according to which property is recognized for those who hold transcribed contracts or other official documents until March 23, 1946, since at that time there was not the phenomenon of land development of off-plan land, in which the trespassers specialized.
But with the implementation of this provision, ( which was introduced by the introductory law of the Civil Code in 1946 ! ), there will be a problem with the rural property of many families who never sold their property or did not make wills ( we note that even today in many cities, but also in the majority of mountainous settlements, there are properties without contracts and it is sufficient for their registration in the Land Registry simple declaration ).
The Greek State has given the way for the solution of this situation since 1885 when it granted private individuals the right to prove their ownership of their property through usufruct which was valid until 1915 even for the Forests. Which of course left the whole part of Greece that was liberated after 1912 uncovered. A solution to which the Greeks did not come to because of the difficult situations that existed at that time and because of the well-known negligence, except of course for the owners of large areas of forests and certainly not of agricultural property.
On the other hand, it is obvious that those who had a lot of property at that time are sure to have resorted to this solution. and therefore have securities created by using the oracle. Consequently, and given that whatever agricultural property there is in old Greece - where the trespassers were mainly active - cannot be large without official data.
It is therefore logical for the State to allow its recognition in a way that is easy, quick and not costly to recognise and of course without the usufructuary procedures.
We propose that in the case of mountain settlements, the recognition of the property of the residents should be made by a final decision of the court of first instance after the testimony of two witnesses and the Community's confirmation of the property. and in any case not for property greater than 50 acres.
As far as the lowland settlements and of course the coastal settlements are concerned, the issue is difficult and we will not propose a solution.
We will simply express the view that a simple and easy solution must be found for them as well, but one that ensures the interests of the State.
An exception to the above must be made, due to the special conditions in Crete, Cyclades, Dodecanese, Ionian Islands, Mani and of course Thesprotia, as well as the rest of Epirus, since the agricultural property was purchased by the Chamides, whose ownership was never disputed by the Greek State and was purchased after the granting of three ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture.
For the Association of Rural Property Owners
the President
Dimitrios Kotsonis
ASSOCIATION OF RURAL PROPERTY OWNERS IN GREECE
Athens 10-12 Mitsopoulou 10-12, 114 74, tel. 6944 737 208
