Forest area 60% of Greek territory

The posts of the first 29 reformed Forest Maps (which cover slightly less than 50% of Greek territory) reverse the prevailing image that green areas in Greece are constantly shrinking. With the exception of Attica, Pieria, Aetolia-Acarnania, Zakynthos, and Rodopi, where forest and grassland areas have been significantly reduced, they are constantly expanding in the rest of the country's prefectures.

As journalist Machi Traza reports in Vima tis Kyriakis, the total area (i.e., 60.5 million acres) covered by the 29 Forest Maps that had been posted by last Thursday, Forests currently cover 60%, whereas in 1945 they covered 55.4%., with the difference translating into an additional 2,774,456 acres of lush greenery. As for grasslands, they currently cover 1.81 million hectares (up from 0.241 million hectares in 1945) and have increased by 944,000 acres.

Specifically, forest areas increased by 35.4% (or 52,000 acres) in Lefkada, 20.5% (500,000 acres) in Arcadia, 19.3% (160,000 acres) in Florina, 19% (191,000 acres) in Kastoria, 17% (88,000 acres) in Kefalonia, 14% (106,000 acres) in Lasithi, 12.6% (17,600 acres) in Corfu, 11.4% (54,000 acres) in Samos, 10.7 (69,000 acres) in Lesbos, 10.6% in the Dodecanese (162,000 acres) and 10.6% in Fokida (163,000 acres).

Contraction in Attica

Attica had a negative sign, where its forests have shrunk by 44.12% and its grasslands by 99.5% over the last 76 years.

However, for the Athens Basin area, the map of Eastern Attica is still pending, which will provide the overall picture.

The figures for grassland areas are impressive, as From 1945 to the present day, in some areas they have increased by more than 1,000%.

Specifically, in the prefecture of Lesbos, from 27,028 acres in 1945, the area increased to 340,213 acres (i.e., an increase of 1,158.7%), in the prefecture of Fokida, from 206 acres to 2,926 acres today (1,320%), and in the prefecture of Samos, from 1,044 acres to 12,000 acres (1,045%).

Overall, grassland areas increased by 6,521 TP3T in the 29 Forest Maps. In other words, from 144,870 acres in 1945, they now cover 1,089,467 acres.

Surprises for Crete and the Dodecanese

The Forest Maps held some special surprises in the areas where they were posted for the first time.

For example, the citizens of Lasithi found that, of the total 1.7 million acres of the prefecture, forests now occupy 50% (up from 44% in 1945) and grasslands 12% (up from 2%). Those affected, mainly farmers, have already protested, with forestry officials stating that the differences will be resolved through the objection process.

Extensive forest cover was to be expected, for example, in Fokida (80%), Drama (78%), Grevena (73%), Euboea, and Kastoria (70%), but it is curious that in the Dodecanese, 65% is covered by forest land and 8% by grassland. And if, for reasons of economy, forest and grassland areas are added together, there has been an increase over the years (since 1960, when the first aerial photographs of the Dodecanese were taken) from 59% to 73%.

As explained by Forest Service officials, this is partly due to the afforestation of agricultural and grassland areas, due to the abandonment of fields with the gradual shift to tourism or the emigration of locals, but also due to the local soil and climate conditions in the Aegean, which favor the rapid growth of scrub and shrubby forest vegetation.

It is noteworthy that in the Dodecanese (mainly in Patmos, Symi, and Arki), the issue had already been raised in mid-2019, when the Ministry of Finance sent hundreds of lawsuits to landowners, claiming their properties, as On these specific islands, the presumption in favor of the State applies. At that time, the Ministry of Environment and Energy issued a decision accepting the opinion of the Technical Forestry Council, allowing those affected to appeal to the Forest Registry Committees or the Objection Examination Committees (EPEA) for the ratified and posted maps, respectively, although, according to local sources, very few have exercised this right. However, In Crete, as well as in Lesbos, Samos, Chios, the Cyclades, Kythira, Antikythira, the Ionian Islands, and Mani, the presumption in favor of the State does not apply, meaning that the burden of proof of ownership falls equally on private individuals and the State.. There, mistakes should be fixed through the objection process once the new committees are set up.

The reform did not solve the problems

As regards the reform of the Forest Maps, it does not appear that the problems have been resolved. In mid-2020, the Ministry of Environment decided to revise them in their entirety (including 55%, which had already been ratified) with the aim of exempting various areas from the restrictions of forestry legislation (cleared land, old land redistributions, properties with building permits from the forestry department, etc.). The aim was to reduce the huge number of objections from citizens (around 180,000) which, based on the rate at which they were being examined by the EPEAs, would take 15 years to resolve.

Their re-registration, which began on January 15 and is currently being completed, has shown that most of the «thorns» remain. As reported in «Vima,» officials from various Forestry Directorates, based on citizens' applications submitted as part of the reform of the Forest Maps, only a small percentage have been included, especially in areas where the number of files was enormous and there was insufficient time for checks, such as in Chalkidiki (3,500 requests) or Attica (over 4,000).

As for the so-called «settlement densification» areas that are being posted for the first time on the Forest Maps, preparations are underway to create a platform where owners of unauthorized buildings in forests can register them in order to temporarily save them from demolition, postponing the problem until the future, when and if a constitutionally acceptable solution is found.
In any case, The shockwave is expected in 3.5 months, when the last chance for owners who feel aggrieved to submit objections expires.. At the same time, a crucial ruling by the Council of State on appeals concerning revisions to forest maps is expected in March.

However, the guidelines issued by Deputy Minister of the Environment George Amiras to the working group set up at the ministry are as follows: solutions that are in line with the decisions of the Council of State should be found soon.