FOLKSTON, Ga. — The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, giving Georgia its first destination on the global list and adding the first U.S. national wildlife refuge to the roster.
The World Heritage Committee made the decision Saturday during its 48th annual session in Busan, South Korea, more than 7,000 miles from the southeast Georgia wetland. Coverage from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Capitol Beat News Service confirmed the inscription after a multi-decade effort that formally advanced when the refuge was nominated in 2024.
In joining the list, the Okefenokee becomes one of 27 World Heritage sites in the United States. Reporting notes it is the first U.S. natural site added in more than three decades.
What the honor covers
Most of the roughly 438,000- to 440,000-acre swamp lies in southeast Georgia, with a smaller portion extending into northeast Florida. Much of the wetland is managed as the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. About 350,000 acres of the refuge are designated wilderness.
The swamp is known for floating peat mats that can tremble underfoot — a feature long associated with the Muscogee name often translated as “land of the trembling earth.” Advocates and scientific partners have emphasized its subtropical freshwater peatland scale, biodiversity and carbon-rich peat deposits. Coverage cites more than 1,200 plant and animal species and the largest undisturbed peat deposit on the North American Coastal Plain.
Kim Bednarek, executive director of Okefenokee Swamp Park, attended the Busan session and said in a statement carried by Capitol Beat that receiving World Heritage status “affirms what those of us who know and love the Okefenokee have always believed: this place is special.”
Georgia’s long road to inscription
The swamp was identified as a potential World Heritage site as early as 1982 but was not officially nominated until 2024 under the Biden administration. A broad coalition of conservation groups, scientists, tribal representatives and state and federal partners backed the bid.
Tracie Revis, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, delivered remarks in Busan on behalf of Chief David W. Hill, according to Capitol Beat. In a phone interview from Busan reported by that service, Revis said the designation expands the platform to present both the biological and cultural story of the swamp and of ancestors who lived there before forced removal.
Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff both issued statements supporting the listing as recognition for the wetland and a boost for surrounding rural communities and tourism, according to AJC and Capitol Beat reporting. A 2024 economic study cited in that coverage projected that World Heritage status could roughly double visitation and support hundreds of long-term jobs and tens of millions of dollars in annual economic activity — figures that remain projections, not post-designation counts.
Protection still unfinished business
World Heritage status raises the swamp’s international profile. It does not by itself ban every private land use on surrounding property.
For years, titanium dioxide mining proposals near the refuge drew opposition from environmental groups and researchers. Last year, The Conservation Fund assembled about $60 million to purchase nearly 8,000 acres once targeted by Twin Pines Minerals, neutralizing that specific mine plan, according to Capitol Beat. Environment Georgia and other groups still note tens of thousands of adjacent acres that could face future mining pressure and have urged lawmakers to strengthen lasting protections.
University of Georgia research released late last year, as summarized in the same coverage, raised concerns that mining withdrawals from the aquifer beneath the swamp could drain surface waters — a finding mining proponents have disputed in the broader policy fight.
For now, the listing closes one chapter that began more than four decades ago and opens another: turning global recognition into durable conservation, visitor infrastructure and economic benefits for gateway communities such as Folkston without degrading the peatland that made the swamp famous.
Visitors planning a trip should check current conditions and entry rules with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partner sites before traveling. Summer heat, lightning and water levels can change access quickly across the refuge’s boat trails and boardwalks.
