South Sudan has secured its first-ever United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site after the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape was officially inscribed on the World Heritage List during the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea.

The 12-million-hectare expanse, which spans Boma and Badingilo National Parks along with key wildlife corridors, was fast-tracked using an emergency procedure due to mounting environmental pressures and immediate conservation threats.

The designation recognises an ecosystem that hosts the largest land mammal migration on Earth, where an estimated six million antelope, primarily white-eared kob, tiang, Mongalla gazelle, and Bohor reedbuck, traverse savannas, floodplains, and wetlands each year. Because the site was inscribed on an emergency basis, the UNESCO committee simultaneously placed Boma-Badingilo on the List of World Heritage in Danger to accelerate international technical support, mobilise emergency funding, and strengthen protection measures on the ground.

South Sudanese officials and conservation partners, including African Parks, welcomed the landmark status as a major milestone for nation-building and environmental stewardship in the world’s youngest country. The listing aims to bolster defense mechanisms for the vast landscape, which faces escalating threats from commercial poaching, illegal wildlife trafficking, regional insecurity, and planned infrastructure expansion that could disrupt ancient animal movement routes.

–ChannelAfrica–