Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has joined UNESCO's World Heritage List, becoming the United States' 27th listed property.
The World Heritage Committee inscribed the Georgia-Florida refuge in 2026 under natural criteria ix and x, which concern ecological processes and biological diversity. UNESCO records the property at 164,565.5 hectares.
Okefenokee was one of 25 properties added during the committee's 48th session in Busan. The group comprised 19 cultural sites, five natural sites and one mixed site, along with approved extensions to two existing properties.
The additions brought the World Heritage List to 1,273 sites across 173 countries, according to UNESCO.
Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, and South Sudan received their first inscriptions. UNESCO says the number of state parties without a listed property consequently fell from 26 to 23.
The committee adopted all inscription decisions by consensus. Listing recognizes what UNESCO calls outstanding universal value and commits the state party to continued protection and management.
For Okefenokee, the World Heritage Centre highlights the large peat wetland and areas of longleaf-pine savanna. The listing page says less than 3% of that savanna type remains.
World Heritage status is an international designation, not an automatic guarantee against every environmental threat. Conservation outcomes still depend on management, monitoring, funding and decisions by responsible authorities.
The 2026 session also added six properties to the List of World Heritage in Danger and removed Vienna's historic center from that list. Those actions are separate from Okefenokee's new inscription.