By M Dowling
The Okefenokee Swamp is the largest blackwater wetland in North America, covering approximately 700 square miles across the Georgia-Florida border. Translating to “Land of Trembling Earth,” it is famous for its floating peat mats, abundant alligators, and tannin-stained waters that resemble black tea.
The Okefenokee—North America’s largest blackwater swamp—has been formally nominated for UNESCO World Heritage designation to protect its globally vital peat bogs and vast biodiversity.
This would give the UN authority over US land, or swamp.
The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is currently advancing through the final stages of the UNESCO World Heritage nomination process. Backed by the Department of the Interior, advocates are pushing for global protection of this 400,000-acre Georgia wetland as a critical biodiversity and climate.
Another Biden Debacle
One month before leaving office, the Biden administration’s Interior Department – without consulting local officials or residents – nominated the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to be designated as a World Heritage Site under the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Seven months later, in July 2025, the Trump administration announced its withdrawal from UNESCO, a step that goes into effect on Dec. 31, 2026.
“Continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States,” the State Department said in announcing the withdrawal. “UNESCO works to advance divisive social and cultural causes and maintains an outsized focus on the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, a globalist ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy.”
If exiting UNESCO is such a good idea, and it is, precisely for the reasons the State Department stated, then why hasn’t the Okefenokee’s nomination to become a World Heritage Site been yanked by the Trump Interior Department?