GEORGIA — The effort to declare the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia as a World Heritage Site for preservation and protection is moving another step closer to achieving that goal.
Federal officials nominated Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 2024.
In July, the Georgia wetland will be up for an approval vote to be added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
State leaders and even celebrities have all urged protection for the area, including Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Governor and university system Chancellor Sonny Perdue.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature recommended Okefenokee and four other locations around the world for recognition.
RELATED STORIES:
- Georgia to spend $33.2 million to fund 14 conservation projects
- US Department of Interior to nominate Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp as UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Federal officials announce plans to expand Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge boundary
- Okefenokee Swamp mining site sold to Conservation Fund, ending project
“World Heritage recognition recognizes the planet’s most exceptional places,” Tim Badman, Director of World Heritage at IUCN, said in a statement. “This year’s recommendations underline the extraordinary range of natural heritage that needs long-term protection; from coral reefs that may help science understand climate resilience, to tidal flats sustaining migratory birds, ancient fossil sites that illuminate life after mass extinction, and wetlands that store carbon and support rare species.”
The vote itself to add Okefenokee to the list of World Heritage sites will be in July at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s meeting in Korea.
Okefenokee is the only location of the five that is in the United States, according to the list published by IUCN.
The nomination text for the Georgia swampland cites is status as protecting “a vast mosaic of swamp, peatland, pine savanna, prairie and forest habitats,” being the home of what may be the world’s largest lowland freshwater peatland and a site with “deep historical, cultural and spiritual significance for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation” and other indigenous communities.
The IUCN conference will be held in Busan, South Korea from July 19 to July 29.
To learn more about the sites up for consideration, go online.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
