Press releases issued by the Municipalities of Chania and Platanias have announced the rules relating to the obligatory clearance of vegetation from building plots and other parcels of land in urban areas, ahead of the no-fires period which will extend from 1st May to 31st October (unless otherwise modified in the light of prevailing weather conditions). The following is from the press release issued by the Municipality of Chania.

Press release, 27/03/26
The Municipality of Chania reminds those responsible that they need to carry out timely clearance of their building plots and other open spaces. Following the provisions of articles 41, 43 and 44 of Regulation 5281/2026, for preventing and averting the risk of causing fire and the rapid spread thereof, the Directorate for Cleaning and Green Affairs of the Municipality of Chania calls upon owners, legal usufructuaries, tenants and subtenants (private individuals or organisations) as well as public sector organisations:

1) To ensure from 1st April to 15th June of each year that they fulfil the obligation to clear [those plots] (by the removal of weeds, dry branches and any other potentially inflammable materials), as well to maintain them up to the end of the no-fires period, so as to avert the risk of causing fire or the rapid spread thereof. The rule applies to building plots and other open spaces which are:
a. in areas within approved rural development plans,
b. in areas within settlement boundaries without an approved rural development plan,
c. within a radius of 100 metres from the boundaries of a) and b), so long as they are not governed by forestry regulations, according to the local forestry map,
d. sports grounds with buildings so long as they are not governed by forestry regulations, according to the local forestry map.
In the case of non-compliance of those responsible with the obligation to clear [their land] as well as in the case of clearance being carried out by default by the Municipality, an administrative fine of up to €2,000 will be imposed, plus the costs of clearance.

2. The responsible parties are obliged, by 15th June 2026, to make a formal declaration that they have fulfilled fire prevention obligations for their properties to the Property Fire Prevention Register of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection at https://akatharista.apps.gov.gr
In the case of inability to submit a declaration (e.g. because of inability to use electronic services, age, disability or force majeure), it can be submitted in person to the local KEP or the locally responsible section of the Fire Service. In the case of failure to submit a declaration a fine is imposed, either by the municipalities or the Fire Service, of a) €500 for owners who have not carried out the clearance or b) €100 for those who have carried out clearance. The submission of a false declaration to the Register is punishable by a fine of €5,000 and imprisonment of at least 6 months.
(www.chania.gr)

Access to the Property Fire Prevention Register
Last year we published detailed instructions on how to access the Property Fire Prevention Register, which can be found here: https://kolymbaricourier.com/2025/04/12/update-on-land-clearance/. A year later, the Land Registry for the Nomos of Chania has still not been completed, with the status for most areas outside the Municipality of Chania itself being labelled as in various preliminary stages of registration. As a result, property owners will be unable to obtain a Land Registry Number (KAEK) for their property and will need to use the coordinates from their topografiko to identify the plot. (Following the posting of this advice last year we were in fact able to submit a declaration using the coordinates from the topografiko.)

Interview with the Civil Protection Minister
Prevention, ahead of incident management, is now the main plank of the government’s strategy relating to the forest fires which Greece experiences every summer, and figures extensively in the new Civil Protection Bill which was adopted following a vote in Parliament at the end of February.

Appearing on Creta TV’s weekly “Political Barometer” programme, hosted by presenter Sotia Pentedimou, on 20th March, the then Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Giannis Kefalogiannis* explained the government’s thinking behind the new bill and outlined some new preventive measures and some adjustments which have been made to the clearance rules in the light of experience over the past two years:

“Clearance of building plots is one of the basic tools for prevention, which if the central government, local government and citizens work effectively together will produce really good results. A preventive measure which is being included for the first time in our arsenal is planned burning. This means basically during the months of March and April, when the weather conditions are good, burning the surplus vegetation on the ground so that during the summer there will not be combustible materials which could easily result in fires. There is also controlled grazing: in some parts of the country the local authorities have the ability … to allow individuals to use their flocks as natural weed-cutters, to go in and clean up [overgrown areas].”

Asked by Ms Pentedimou about the origin of these proposals, the Minister said that they come chiefly from the scientific community:
“They come from organisations such as Greenpeace, which generally has experience of ecosystem management in our country, and the reason why those comments were heard is that before we deposited the bill we sat down with scientific bodies, with the universities, with the National Observatory, with Greenpeace, and we looked at the proposals being put to us, at what else is out there in the field, what is there in the laboratories. We were looking for both scientific knowledge and practical activities and we applied them as a tool for prevention.

“So I think that with the preventive measures of the bill, which are already starting to be applied from this year, the issue of prevention in our country has been established as the central plank of civil protection. For that reason we can be more optimistic. But I must repeat that there are so many phenomena, we are faced with so many that there will be disasters.

“What is our aim, however? As few fires started as possible. Of those which start, as many as possible are confined so that they do not spread. With those that do get out of control, for there to be coordination of all the bodies involved – a common operational language, a common operational picture, very specific coordination so as to produce the best possible result.”

Adjustments to the land clearance scheme
Turning to the question of individual responsibility, Ms Pentedimou prompted the Minister to enlarge on the importance of land clearance. Confirming that the scheme is in operation from 1st April, he said
“The new bill also settles a number of grey areas which have existed over the past couple of years. The scheme was initiated in 2024 which was, one might say, a pilot year, since it was implemented without any fines being issued, while last year was the first one in which fines were imposed.

“Why is it important to clear our plots of land? It’s not simply a preventive measure, because quite simply we have found in practice that when there is a fire which passes through an uncleared plot, firstly it spreads very quickly and secondly it creates more damage. So the citizen must understand that when a fire enters their own property, if it has not been cleared, in all likelihood their home, their house, their fences will be destroyed. On the other hand we have seen that if it is cleared, we will most probably avoid the loss, so that is important.

“So what the law has clarified is what is done by the Fire Service, by the municipality and by the citizen. And we have said, quite simply, that the citizen has the obligation [to clear their land] from 1st April to 15th June. There has been a rationalisation with regard to the duration. Last year and the year before, when it had to be completed by the end of April – i.e. only a month – we had justifiable complaints that the period was very short and people could not find contractors etc. So now we say that, starting from 1st April, by 15th June we should have proceeded with clearing our plots. Now we have a reasonable length of time, which was accepted in principle by the property owners’ associations.

“Also there was a rationalisation of the system of fines, which in some cases were excessive. So now we are proceeding more logically, with one fine for a plot of 100 sq m and another fine for a plot of 2 stremmata (2,000 sq m), and so on. There has also been a rationalisation in the case where someone has cleared their land but forgotten to make a declaration. In this case, as it has been shown that the land has been cleared, which is the main issue, there is a better treatment of the situation.

“Finally, we have to make the declaration as each municipality must know what declarations it has received. The municipality is obliged to check the clearances in detail and the Fire Service, unfortunately, is obliged to check any complaints [of non-clearance], because if, for example, I see that my neighbour has an uncleared property which is putting me and the whole neighbourhood in danger, obviously I can make a complaint. So it’s the Fire Service who have the responsibility for this.

“So let’s clean up our neighbourhood. It’s important that we publicly urge our citizens, from 1st April when the process begins, to hasten to clear our properties. In addition, the more regularly we do it, the less work there is from one year to the next. There are some plots where if we clear them every year, there is only a small amount of work to be done. If we leave them for several years, which unfortunately applies with smaller plots in many cases, then the work is unfortunately greater. Also, it is our obligation, we must emphasise, for the plot to remain clear throughout the no-fires season – we don’t just do it once and then leave it.

“What does this usually mean? If for example we have a plot where the vegetation regrows, we can clear it easily. If, unfortunately, we see that it is collecting rubble and other forms of rubbish, then we have to clear it properly. This is most important, however, because it is one of our basic tools in the issue of prevention.”

Progress in public awareness
Ms Pentedimou asked the Minister to what extent people’s behaviour in this respect has changed over the past few years, given their experience of the increasing number of extreme weather events caused by climate change etc. In reply, Mr Kefalogiannis said that of the 5,000 or so fires which start in the summer period each year, some 70% are due to human factors. Of these some 60% of the total are due to negligence, while the remainder are caused deliberately, i.e. by arson. In the latter case the government has been able bear down on the problem, carrying out record numbers of arrests leading to imprisonment last year.

As regards those caused by negligence, however, the country has a long road to travel, the Minister said. An example of negligence is farmers or stock breeders who burn branches and other vegetation and the fire gets out of hand and spreads to woodland. Another is a worker who uses a cutting wheel when the risk factor for the area is at orange or red, creating sparks which cause a fire.

One of the basic elements of the new law, the Minister said, is to further educate the general public so as to get to a point where we are much more careful. People need to follow the instructions from Civil Protection when the Daily Fire Risk map is at red or orange. Statistics show that people are being more compliant, with a reduction in the loss of life from natural disasters due to climate change, and in cases where there is loss of life, it is due to the fact that people have ignored the instructions of the Civil Protection authorities.

People need to realise that when an emergency is declared, e.g. in the case of a risk of flooding, it is not due to some whim on the part of the authorities but is based on scientific analysis of weather conditions, geographic factors and past history of the location in question, resulting in a realistic estimate of the likelihood of a dangerous situation developing.

*Giannis Kefalogiannis resigned from his post on Friday 3rd April following his implication in the OPEKEPE scandal related to false claims for EU agricultural subsidies. Agriculture Minister Kostas Tsiaras and Deputy Health Minister Dimitris Vartzopoulos also stood down. According to dw.com : “All three denied wrongdoing and said their resignations were intended to smooth the path of the investigation.” The German news site has provided a useful summary of the affair in English, which can be found at www.dw.com. Mr Kefalogiannis has been replaced by Evangelos Tournas, a retired Air Force General who was formerly deputy minister in the same department.