diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8e33ce2b..7efe4b4d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@
   properties exposed by the live NGI GeoPackage.
 - Hardened shared AOI geometry normalization to persist valid 2D polygons when
   an authoritative source supplies harmless zero-valued Z coordinates.
+- Kept map rectangle and full-area selection available for coverage inspection
+  when a selected national theme has not yet been materialized, without
+  querying an unrelated active dataset.
 
 ## Sprint 240 Operational forest, agriculture, nature and soil themes (2026-07-17)
 
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_rc4_national_coverage.py b/backend/tests/test_rc4_national_coverage.py
index f635c4f3..3d91fc19 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_rc4_national_coverage.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_rc4_national_coverage.py
@@ -210,3 +210,5 @@ def test_frontend_prefers_materialized_national_workspace_and_resolves_drawn_bbo
     assert "externalApi.resolveCoverage" in coverage_hook
     assert "coverage.outside_supported_scope" in map_workspace
     assert "coverageStatusLabel" in map_workspace
+    assert "coverageSelectionAvailable" in map_workspace
+    assert "activeThemeAvailable && !regionalPartitionedThemeActive" in map_workspace
diff --git a/docs/CODEX_EXECUTION_LOG.md b/docs/CODEX_EXECUTION_LOG.md
index 2b3e4f7f..64758a7c 100644
--- a/docs/CODEX_EXECUTION_LOG.md
+++ b/docs/CODEX_EXECUTION_LOG.md
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@
   a separate live-only PostGIS constraint: AdminVector AOI boundaries carry a
   zero-valued Z coordinate while `areas.geometry` is intentionally 2D.
   Shared AOI normalization now removes Z before validation and persistence.
+- Live API persistence subsequently completed with one national workspace,
+  eight scope areas and six ready authoritative datasets. A second operator
+  run reused the same project and dataset identifiers. Browser acceptance then
+  exposed and closed a map guard that had prevented coverage-only selection
+  when the chosen theme was honestly unavailable.
 
 - Froze the RC geography as all Belgian land plus the separately labelled
   territorial sea, EEZ and continental shelf.
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/map/MapWorkspace.tsx b/frontend/src/components/map/MapWorkspace.tsx
index c2ddc2d7..a13607e1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/map/MapWorkspace.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/map/MapWorkspace.tsx
@@ -974,6 +974,7 @@ export function MapWorkspace({
   const onDemandThemeActive = analysisMode === 'current' && Boolean(activeOnDemandMapProduct)
   const regionalOnDemandThemeActive = regionalScopeSelected && onDemandThemeActive
   const activeThemeAvailable = Boolean(activeThemeDataset) || onDemandThemeActive
+  const coverageSelectionAvailable = analysisMode === 'current' && Boolean(selectedProjectId && selectedMapArea)
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (
@@ -1525,7 +1526,7 @@ export function MapWorkspace({
   const analyzeSelection = async (bbox: VectorSelectionBBox, areaId?: string) => {
     setSelectionBbox(bbox)
     const tasks: Array<Promise<unknown>> = [loadAllThemeResults(bbox, areaId)]
-    if (!regionalPartitionedThemeActive && !onDemandThemeActive) {
+    if (activeThemeAvailable && !regionalPartitionedThemeActive && !onDemandThemeActive) {
       tasks.push(onRunMapSelectionExtract(bbox, areaId))
     }
     if (analysisMode === 'evolution' && earlierDatasetId && laterDatasetId) {
@@ -1914,6 +1915,8 @@ export function MapWorkspace({
                   <p>
                     {bboxSelectionMode
                       ? 'Sleep nu een rechthoek op de kaart.'
+                      : !activeThemeAvailable
+                        ? 'Teken een rechthoek om de databeschikbaarheid voor dit gebied te controleren.'
                       : regionalRasterThemeActive
                         ? 'Teken een rechthoek; de juiste gemeentelijke rasters worden automatisch gecombineerd.'
                         : onDemandThemeActive
@@ -1927,7 +1930,7 @@ export function MapWorkspace({
               <div className="geo-map-actions">
                 <button
                   className={bboxSelectionMode ? 'primary-action geo-draw-active' : 'primary-action'}
-                  disabled={!activeThemeAvailable || (analysisMode === 'evolution' && activeTemporalSeries.length < 2) || mapSelectionLoading || themeResultsLoading}
+                  disabled={(!activeThemeAvailable && !coverageSelectionAvailable) || (analysisMode === 'evolution' && activeTemporalSeries.length < 2) || mapSelectionLoading || themeResultsLoading}
                   type="button"
                   onClick={startBboxSelection}
                 >
@@ -1935,7 +1938,7 @@ export function MapWorkspace({
                 </button>
                 <button
                   className="secondary-action"
-                  disabled={!activeThemeAvailable || regionalRasterThemeActive || regionalOnDemandThemeActive || (analysisMode === 'evolution' && activeTemporalSeries.length < 2) || !selectedAreaBbox || mapSelectionLoading || themeResultsLoading}
+                  disabled={(!activeThemeAvailable && !coverageSelectionAvailable) || regionalRasterThemeActive || regionalOnDemandThemeActive || (analysisMode === 'evolution' && activeTemporalSeries.length < 2) || !selectedAreaBbox || mapSelectionLoading || themeResultsLoading}
                   type="button"
                   title={
                     regionalRasterThemeActive || regionalOnDemandThemeActive