New objections against a ratified forest map cannot be filed in 2026. The last general deadline expired on 31 July 2022 and no new one has opened since. The objections filed up to then are still being examined by the Objection Review Committees (ΕΠΕΑ): by September 2026, about 227,000 of the 466,000 had been decided.
If you did not file an objection, you still have two options. An application to correct a manifest error, which can be made even after ratification and carries no fee. And, for fields that have become forested (code ΑΔ), the procedure of Article 67 of Law 998/1979.
Our team worked on compiling the forest maps in 2016 and 2019, covering more than 300,000 stremmata (30,000 hectares). We know how the polygons were drawn and where mistakes usually occur.
Which case applies to you?
- You filed an objection and it is pending: Prepare your file for the hearing before the ΕΠΕΑ. The fee has already been paid.
- The ΕΠΕΑ rejected your objection: File an application for annulment with the Council of State, within 60 days of the ratification being published in the Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ).
- You did not file and the error is obvious: Submit an application to correct a manifest error to the Forest Directorate, with no fee.
- You did not file, the land is coded ΑΔ and you want to cultivate it: Follow the procedure of Article 67 of Law 998/1979. Cultivation is allowed under conditions and the classification on the map stays the same.
- The property is within a settlement that was not posted: Wait for the future posting. A new deadline will then open for your area.
If you don’t yet know how your property is classified, start with our guide on how to check whether your property is on the ratified forest maps.
What an objection is and who could file one
An objection is a formal challenge to the classification of an area on the posted forest map. The owner claims that a section the map shows as forest or forest land actually has a different character. The reverse is also possible: someone may argue that a forest area was left off the map.
The framework is set out in Articles 15 to 19 of Law 3889/2010, as replaced by Article 153 of Law 4389/2016 and amended several times since.
An objection for land shown as forest could be filed by:
- natural and legal persons with a property or contractual right to the land (ownership, usufruct, easement, lease, preliminary sale agreement)
- the Greek State and first- and second-tier local authorities
For forest land that was left off, anyone could file an objection, in particular the State, municipalities and environmental organisations.
A point that confuses many owners: the ΕΠΕΑ only judges the character of the land, i.e. whether it is forest, forest land, grassland or farmland. It does not examine ownership (Article 18 para. 4). An objection based only on title deeds, without evidence about the form of the land, is unlikely to succeed. Ownership falls under the Forest Ownership Council and the courts. More in our article on securing ownership of forested fields.
Deadlines: why new objections cannot be filed today
The general rule is 105 days from the posting date set by the Forest Directorate’s decision, or 125 days for those living abroad. The deadline is strict: if it is missed, the objection is rejected as late.
For the maps posted in 2021, successive extensions were granted. The last one, under Article 41 of Law 4958/2022, expired on 31 July 2022 (in practice 1 August, because the 31st was a Sunday).
Since then:
- The Ministry of Environment and Energy (ΥΠΕΝ) has stated that no new objections against ratified maps are foreseen.
- The table of new postings on ktimanet.gr was empty when we checked it on 14 October 2026.
- None of the 2025 and 2026 laws we checked (Laws 5215/2025, 5256/2025, 5299/2026, 5317/2026) opens a new deadline.
A new deadline can only open in two cases:
- Revision and re-posting of part of the map (Article 48 para. 10 of Law 4685/2020). It only concerns the sections that are posted again.
- Areas within settlements that were left out of the posting, the so-called “black outlines”. It has been announced that they will be mapped, with no date set so far.
If you filed an objection in the past and it has not been heard, it remains valid. You do not need to file it again.
How much an objection costs
The State fee
The fee is tiered and set per objection, depending on the area you are disputing. It is governed by Joint Ministerial Decision 151585/323/2017, as halved by ΥΠΕΝ/ΔΔΕΥ/74394/2692/2021 (Gazette Β΄ 3589/2021). 1 stremma = 1,000 m².
- Up to 100 m² (only for cases under Article 2β of Law 2308/1995): €5
- Up to 1 stremma: €20
- 1 to 5 stremmata: €45
- 5 to 10 stremmata: €90
- 10 to 20 stremmata: €175
- 20 to 100 stremmata: €350
- 100 to 300 stremmata: €700
- Over 300 stremmata: €1,650
Many websites still show the old table (€10 to €3,300). It was abolished in 2021.
Among others, local authorities and the State do not pay a fee, nor do objections concerning settlement outlines that were not recorded, allotments and land consolidations, or areas with a final classification act.
If the objection is accepted, the fee is not refunded. We found no provision for it. A refund is only provided if you withdrew the objection within the deadline, if the ΕΠΕΑ ruled that it was a manifest error that had been rejected, or if the area was corrected automatically as a manifest error (Article 39 of Law 4801/2021).
Professional fees
The ΕΠΕΑ judges the form of the land in aerial photographs, and this is documented by a forester or engineer with a photo-interpretation report. Involving an expert is optional (ΥΠΕΝ says so explicitly), but without one the documentation is usually missing.
The cost depends on:
- the area and the number of polygons
- the map code (a ΔΑ case needs much more documentation than an ΑΔ one)
- whether a topographic survey in ΕΓΣΑ87 already exists
- how many years of aerial photographs need stereoscopic analysis
- whether representation before the ΕΠΕΑ is needed
How an objection is heard by the ΕΠΕΑ
Each ΕΠΕΑ has 3 members:
- a lawyer as chair, qualified at least to appear before the Court of Appeal, nominated by the bar association
- a State forester
- an engineer with at least 5 years’ experience who is authorised to sign topographic surveys
Each committee meets 4 times a month (not in August) and examines 25 cases per session (Article 49 of Law 4685/2020). With 25 cases in one session, each case gets only a few minutes. That is why the written file counts for more than anything you say in person.
The procedure:
- The secretariat sends an invitation at least 10 days before the session.
- You or your technical consultant may attend, and they are invited to present their views. Since February 2026, sessions by video conference are also allowed (ΥΠΕΝ/ΔΔΕΥ/144390/5970/2026).
- The ΕΠΕΑ decides. The law allows 4 months, extendable by 2 months. In practice, many cases wait for years.
- The Forest Directorate corrects the map within 2 months of the decision, and the correction is ratified in the Government Gazette.
According to September 2026 figures, most pending cases are in East Attica, Crete, Laconia, Boeotia and Zakynthos. ΥΠΕΝ has set a target of completing the maps by the end of 2027.
In Evia, the map was partially ratified on 24.11.2022 (Gazette Δ΄ 873/2022), only for areas without objections. Sections with a pending objection still have provisional validity until they are heard and full ratification takes place (Articles 17 and 19 of Law 3889/2010).
Preparation checklist before the hearing
- Download your file from the Hellenic Cadastre platform, using your Taxisnet credentials. Check that the polygon covers only the section you are disputing and that the coordinates are in ΕΓΣΑ87.
- Check what is missing. If the original objection only included title deeds, you need a photo-interpretation report. The ΕΠΕΑ accepts supplementary evidence.
- Write a short memorandum, 1 to 2 pages: what you are asking for, what each aerial photograph shows and which document proves it.
- Decide who will attend. If a third party represents you, an authorisation is required.
- Watch for the invitation. Ten days is not much time to prepare a report from scratch, so don’t wait for it to arrive.
What evidence convinces the ΕΠΕΑ
The committee answers one question: what form did the land have in the 1945 reference aerial photographs (or 1960, where 1945 is not sufficient) and what form does it have today. The map code shows where you are starting from.
- Code ΑΔ (Forested field): Agricultural form in the old aerial photographs, forest today. This is the most favourable case, if cultivation is clearly visible in 1945 or 1960.
- Code ΔΑ (Clearing): Forest form in the old aerial photographs, a different form today. Overturning it is difficult, as administrative acts or strong documentation are needed.
- Code ΔΔ: Forest form then and now. A very difficult case.
For an analysis of the codes, see our article on what the ΔΑ and ΑΔ codes mean for your property.
Evidence that counts:
- Cultivation visible in the 1945 or 1960 aerial photographs: ploughing marks, terraces, linear plantings, farm buildings.
- Administrative acts before 11.6.1975, which carry a presumption of legality (Article 3 para. 7 of Law 998/1979): land grants, distributions and land consolidations, decisions of expropriation committees, vineyard and olive grove registers.
- A final act classifying the land as non-forest.
- Title deeds and old cultivation declarations, always as supplementary evidence.
- Very old olive or fruit trees, which prove decades of cultivation.
- A photo-interpretation report by a forester or engineer, with stereoscopic analysis of more than one year.
Photo-interpretation has also gained weight in case law. See what changed with Supreme Court (Areios Pagos) decision 1598/2025.
Why most objections are rejected:
- They rely only on title deeds and ownership.
- They contain vague claims or only testimony from relatives and neighbours.
- Forest vegetation is clearly visible in the 1945 aerial photograph.
- They were found inadmissible: no fee paid, wrong coordinates or documents sent late.
In most rejections, the ΕΠΕΑ follows the recommendation of the Forest Directorate. To overturn it, you need technical evidence in the same language: aerial photographs, photo-interpretation and orthophoto maps.
If the objection is rejected
You challenge the act ratifying the map that incorporates the ΕΠΕΑ decision, with an application for annulment to the Council of State (Article 19 para. 5 of Law 3889/2010). The deadline is 60 days, as a rule from the publication of the ratification in the Government Gazette.
In Council of State decision 1165/2026, the deadline was counted from when the applicants actually learned of the change, because they had not been notified. Every case has its own facts, though, and before the Council of State you need a lawyer. Speak to one as soon as you see the decision.
If the objection is accepted
- The Forest Directorate corrects the map within 2 months and the correction is ratified.
- The Hellenic Cadastre is updated with the correction (Article 37 of Law 5256/2025).
- If you want to sell, the contract can rely on the ΕΠΕΑ acceptance decision, without waiting for the new ratification (Article 93 of Law 5299/2026).
You did not file an objection: the remaining options
Application to correct a manifest error
It concerns errors that fall within a closed list of cases (Ministerial Decision 153394/919/2017, Gazette Β΄ 1366). It is submitted to the Forest Directorate and carries no fee. Since 2022 it can also be made against a ratified map (Article 22 of Law 4964/2022), and the correction is ratified by the Secretary General for Forests.
If the Forest Directorate rejects the application, it is forwarded to the ΕΠΕΑ as an objection. You must then pay the fee from the table within 30 days (Article 48 para. 4 of Law 4685/2020).
Forested fields: Article 67 of Law 998/1979
It concerns land that was farmland in 1945 or 1960 and later became forested (code ΑΔ). The article was replaced by Article 93 of Law 4915/2022.
What it provides:
- The classification on the map stays the same.
- The State does not claim ownership, unless it holds its own title.
- If the land is forest, up to 30 stremmata can be returned to cultivation with a permit from the competent Forest Policy Implementation Inspectorate. Above 5 stremmata, a technical and economic study is required.
- If the land is forest land, the vegetation can be removed with a permit from the District Forest Officer.
This route suits you when your goal is to cultivate the field again.
Frequently asked questions
Can I file an objection today? Not against a ratified map. A new deadline only opens for sections that are posted again or for areas that have not yet been posted.
Do I need a lawyer or a forester? It is not mandatory for the ΕΠΕΑ. For the Council of State you need a lawyer. The technical documentation (photo-interpretation, topographic survey) is what decides most cases.
How long will I wait for the hearing? The law speaks of 4 to 6 months from referral to the committee. In practice, in areas with many pending cases the wait is years.
If I win, do I get the fee back? Acceptance of the objection does not bring a refund. A refund is only provided in special cases, such as withdrawal within the deadline or automatic correction of a manifest error.
Does the ΕΠΕΑ examine who owns the land? The ΕΠΕΑ only judges the character of the land. Ownership is decided by the Forest Ownership Council and the courts.
Need help with your objection?
EnsoGreen’s team of foresters prepares photo-interpretation reports, completes objection files and represents clients before the ΕΠΕΑ. We are based in Chalkida and take on cases throughout Greece.
See our services for forest maps and the Cadastre and for photo-interpretation reports.
Call us on +30 22210 89814 or +30 22210 92390, or send your property’s ΚΑΕΚ (Cadastre code) via the contact form for an initial check.