After more than four decades of application since 1982, on Saturday, July 25, 2026, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

New UNESCO World Heritage Site, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, along with Mount Olympus, July 25, 2026

The Okefenokee has literally joined Mount Olympus among such sites, also inscribed this year.

Sites inscribed in previous years include the Everglades, the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, and San Antonio Missions, which include the Alamo.

I’m sure we’ll hear the usual unsubstantiated complaints about Chinese control off the U.S., but if Texas isn’t worried about the Alamo being a World Heritage site, why should Georgia be worried about the Okefenokee joining that list?

Here is what the inscription says, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO, CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

The property, located in southeastern Georgia and northeastern Florida, protects the Okefenokee Swamp, the largest lowland freshwater peatland in the subtropical zone worldwide and one of the largest and most intact ecosystems within the North American Coastal Plain global biodiversity hotspot. The property comprises a diverse mosaic of wetlands, savannas, and forests shaped by the ongoing interaction of water, fire, vegetation, and wildlife, with alternating fire and rainfall processes driving peat formation, vegetation structure, and biodiversity. The site also contains significant areas of endangered Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) savanna, of which less than 3% remains, supporting high concentrations of plant species endemic to the region. Its extensive peat deposits provide an important archive of palaeo-environmental history and critical carbon storage. The property supports exceptional biodiversity, including at least 856 plant species, 48 mammal species, 238 bird species, 39 fish species, and 90 reptile and amphibian species, and provides important habitat for migratory birds, threatened species, and a significant population of American alligators.

Gator straddling log, 2023-11-025 11:53:03, –jsq for WWALS 30.8608872, -82.3234103

Ty Tagami, Capitol Beat News Service, USA Today, Okefenokee wins UNESCO status, boosting tourism and protection,

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announced Saturday that it had decided to add the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to its World Heritage Site List.

The decision, reached during the 48th World Heritage Committee session in Busan, South Korea, makes the swamp the first such site in Georgia and the first listed national wildlife refuge in the United States, which already has more than two dozen listed sites.

“Receiving World Heritage status affirms what those of us who know and love the Okefenokee have always believed: this place is special,” Kim Bednarek, executive director of Okefenokee Swamp Park, said in a statement while attending the committee session.

Tracie Revis, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, delivered a statement on behalf of Chief David W. Hill, in the languages of her two tribes, Muscogee and Yuchi. She said in a phone interview from Busan that she expressed excitement for both the natural wonder of the Okefenokee and for the lives of her ancestors who lived there before they were forcibly removed from the land.

Hundreds of alligators congregate at the Okefenokee Swamp in south Georgia on Saturday, July 26, 2025. The designation “gives us a larger platform to showcase not just the biological side of things, but the cultural side of it,” Revis said.

Okefenokee advocates say the designation also will put south Georgia on the global map as a tourist destination, boosting the regional economy.

Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement that it was “a fitting recognition for the Okefenokee that will further strengthen rural communities that surround it.”

A 2024 study said a World Heritage listing would draw 800,000 tourists a year, doubling visitation and creating about 750 long-term jobs and about $60 million in annual economic impact.

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said in a statement that the designation “will help protect this renowned natural treasure for generations to come, promote tourism, and support southeast Georgia’s economic growth.”

The Okefenokee is the first U.S. natural World Heritage Site added in more than three decades and brings the number of World Heritage sites in the country to 27.

Signpost at Middle and East Forks, Suwannee River, 2023-11-05, 12:51:33, –jsq for WWALS 30.8348925, -82.3431213

WWALS of course supported the World Heritage List bid.

https://wwals.net/?p=62469

For more about the Okefenokee Swamp, see Videos: Okefenokee Swamp by Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, 2025-09-11,

https://wwals.net/?p=68815

Here is the WWALS video of Veronica’s webinar, from noon-1 PM, Thursday, September 11, 2025:

https://youtu.be/pvLU8wPLsZc

Okefenokee Swamp by Veronica Kelley-Summers, 2025-09-11, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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