Press release · Municipality of Apokoronas

Apokoronas: All plot owners must clear their land of fire risk by June 15

April 3, 2026 Original source ↗ Verified source

Summary

The municipality of Apokoronas is reminding all property owners, tenants, and occupiers that they are legally required to clear their plots of dry grass, dead branches, and other flammable material by June 15, 2026. The obligation applies to both built and vacant plots within village boundaries and up to 100 metres beyond them. Those who fail to clean up face fines starting at €200, while failing to submit the required online declaration carries an additional penalty of up to €500.

Apokoronas: Clear your land before June 15 or face fines

With summer approaching and the fire season looming, the municipality of Apokoronas is calling on all property owners, tenants, and occupiers to act now. Under Greek law, clearing land of fire-prone vegetation is not optional — it is a legal obligation with a hard deadline of June 15, 2026.

Who has to act?

The rule applies to owners, tenants, sub-tenants, and anyone else with a legal interest in a plot — whether that plot is built on or vacant. It covers land inside approved town plans and village boundaries, as well as plots within 100 metres of those boundaries, provided the land is not classified as forest under the local forest map. Built plots outside town planning zones are also included if they are not forest land.

Exemptions exist for: well-maintained gardens and planted areas around buildings, vacant plots outside town planning zones, and built plots outside planning zones that fall within forest or reforestation areas.

What does clearing involve?

The required work goes beyond a quick tidy-up. Owners must cut down and remove dry or broken trees, and any branches touching a building. All combustible plant material lying on the ground — leaf litter, dry grass, fallen branches — must be cleared away. Tree canopies need to be pruned upwards from the base to increase clearance from the ground. Shrubs must be thinned out, and any other flammable, explosive, or easily ignitable materials or waste left on the property must be removed.

Key dates

Clearing deadline: June 15, 2026
Online declaration window: April 1 – June 15, 2026
Ongoing maintenance required throughout the fire season: May 1 – October 31, 2026

Submitting your declaration online

Alongside the physical clearing work, everyone with an obligation must also submit a declaration through the national fire prevention register. To do so, you will need:

Your Taxisnet login credentials (the Greek tax authority portal)
The national land registry number (KAEK) for your plot, or — if your area is not yet fully registered — the coordinates of your plot

The declaration can be submitted here: National Fire Prevention Register

If you are unable to submit online — due to age, disability, or other exceptional circumstances — you can submit a paper declaration in person at your local Citizens' Service Centre (KEP) or at the nearest fire station.

Penalties for non-compliance

The consequences of ignoring this obligation are serious:

Failing to clear or maintain the plot during the fire season: €1 per square metre, with a minimum of €200 and a maximum of €2,000
Failing to submit the declaration (plot not cleared): €500
Failing to submit the declaration (plot has been cleared): €100
Submitting a false declaration: €5,000 fine and a minimum of 6 months in prison

A shared responsibility

The municipality of Apokoronas stresses that fire safety is not only the job of the state or local government. Protecting lives, homes, and the natural environment is a responsibility that belongs to every one of us. The municipality is counting on residents to take this seriously.

Official source

Source translation

Machine-translated from the official source document.

Press Release – Mandatory Clearing of Plots and Open Spaces by June 15

April 3, 2026, 12:53 PM

As part of the adoption of preventive fire protection measures for the 2026 fire protection period, in accordance with the applicable legislation as amended and in force under Law No. 5281/2026, to prevent the risk of fire ignition or its rapid spread, we remind you that owners, possessors, usufructuaries, tenants or sub-tenants of plots and other open spaces within approved town planning schemes or settlements, as well as within a distance of up to 100 metres from their boundaries, are obliged to proceed with the clearing of their properties

by June 15, 2026

Owners are required to submit a solemn declaration to the National Register for the maintenance of preventive fire protection measures pursuant to Article 53A of Law No. 4662/2020 (Government Gazette A' 27) as amended and in force under Law No. 5281/2026, via the electronic platform of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection (Υ.Κ.Κ.Π.Π.), at the following link: https://akatharista.apps.gov.gr/

from April 1 to June 15, 2026.

The above obligated persons are also required to maintain their properties throughout the entire fire protection period, from May 1 to October 31.

The clearing obligation concerns both undeveloped and developed — i.e. with a building — land parcels:

a) in areas within approved town planning schemes,

b) in areas within settlement boundaries without an approved town planning scheme,

c) in areas within a radius of 100 metres from the boundaries referred to in cases a) and b), provided they are not subject to forest legislation, in accordance with the forest map of the area,

d) in plots outside the town plan with a building, provided they are not subject to forest legislation, in accordance with the forest map of the area.

NOT affected are:

landscaped, maintained gardens or planted surfaces of open spaces of buildings, apartment blocks, etc., on plots within or outside the town plan,
undeveloped plots outside the town plan,
developed plots outside the town plan but within forest or reforestation areas.

To determine whether a plot outside the town plan is or is not subject to the provisions of forest legislation, forest maps are used.

The required clearing includes:

• Felling and removal of dry and broken trees and branches, as well as branches in direct contact with a building.

• Removal of combustible plant material lying on the ground surface, such as leaf litter, dry grass, and fallen dry branches.

• Pruning of the base of tree canopies and increasing the height at which they begin from the ground surface, depending on the age and species of the tree.

• Thinning of shrub vegetation in terms of ground coverage.

Removal of any other abandoned combustible, flammable, explosive, or easily ignitable materials, objects, and waste.

To submit the Clearing Declaration for their plot via the electronic platform (National Register), the obligated owners, possessors, usufructuaries, tenants or sub-tenants will need to provide:

their personal Taxisnet access credentials,
the National Cadastre Number (KAEK) of the plot, or
the coordinates of the plot if it is located in an area where the Land Registry is not yet in operation (i.e. cadastral mapping is ongoing or under posting).

In cases where submission of a declaration is impossible — such as due to objective inability to use electronic services, age, disability, or force majeure — submit it in person at the relevant Citizens' Service Centre or at the locally competent Fire Service, who will forward it to the Directorate of Preventive Fire Protection of the Fire Brigade by any appropriate means.

Warning! Failure to clear these plot areas leads to the imposition of the following sanctions:

For failure to clear / maintain the clearing of the plot during the fire protection period (May 1 – October 31):
- Fine of €1/m² with a minimum of €200 and a maximum of €2,000
For failure to submit a declaration to the national register by June 15:
- Fine of €500, if clearing has not been carried out
- Fine of €100, if clearing has been carried out
For submission of a false declaration to the national register:
- Fine of €5,000 and imprisonment of at least 6 months

The Municipality looks forward to the cooperation of residents, as fire protection concerns their safety, the protection of their property, and the environment.

The protection of the environment and human life is not only the responsibility of the State or Local Government but a common obligation of us all.

From the Civil Protection Service of the Municipality of Apokoronas