Forest map objections: what buyers should know

An objection is the formal way to dispute what a posted forest map shows: for example, that a field has been coded as forest or grassland. It challenges the land's character, not who owns it. People and companies with a legitimate interest (έννομο συμφέρον) in the land can file one.

• Objections are filed online through the Hellenic Cadastre's platform while the map is posted. In 2021 the Ministry of Environment said some categories could also be filed free of charge at the posting support points (ΣΥΑΔΧ).
• Purely technical mistakes, such as a boundary drawn in the wrong place, can be raised as a request to correct an obvious error (πρόδηλο σφάλμα). If that request is rejected, it goes to the objection committee.
• An objection does not change the map by itself. The disputed area waits for a committee decision while the rest of the map moves on to ratification.

Each posting sets its own deadline, counted from a date in the official invitation to file objections. The rule has changed over the years: a 2021 legal commentary on the version introduced by Law 4685/2020 gives 105 days, and the Ministry has said that deadlines were extended repeatedly. People living abroad have had extra time.

Filing an objection online costs a fee that depends on the size of the disputed area. A joint ministerial decision of August 2021 set it from €5 for up to 100 m² to €1,650 for more than 300,000 m².

By December 2022 forest maps had been posted for 95% of the country, so in most areas the window for new objections has closed. What matters to a buyer is usually what was filed back then, and what happened to it.

Objections are decided by objection committees (ΕΠΕΑ). Each has three members: a lawyer as chair, an engineer and a forester. Their decisions are posted online with a posting number (ΑΔΑ), which a deed later refers to.

The backlog is large. In March 2026 more than 200,000 objections were reported to be pending. A ministerial decision in February 2026 (ΦΕΚ Β' 994/26.02.2026) allows more committees to be set up and lets them meet by video. Someone whose objection is rejected can go to the administrative courts.

Ratification can be partial: land with no pending objection is ratified first. Once a map is ratified, no new objections can be filed. Under article 20 of Law 3889/2010, as amended in May 2026, a ratified map can be reformed only in limited cases:

• to add or remove land in line with forest legislation, or with court decisions on it;
• to include administrative acts that should have been on the map, or that were mapped wrongly;
• to correct obvious errors.

A reform is approved by a decision of the Secretary General for Forests, published in the Government Gazette, and the approval is posted on Diavgeia.

• Forest-type land on a ratified map: the sale is void without a Forest Directorate certificate confirming the land's character.
• Objection or reform request accepted: instead of that certificate, the deed attaches a copy of the committee's decision or the reform approval, with its ΑΔΑ, and an ΕΓΣΑ topographic plan on which the engineer confirms it is the same property. This applies until the map itself is reformed, and the deed is void without it.
• Land outside forest law: an engineer's sworn declaration is enough. When such a declaration is given to a public authority, it must say whether the character is provisional or final, depending on the stage the map has reached.
• Objection still pending: there is no decision to attach yet, so the land's character is an open question. Treat it as a red flag for professional review.