Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape: UNESCO World Heritage

Context: The Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape was officially inscribed as South Sudan’s first-ever UNESCO World Heritage Site.

About The Badingilo-Boma Landscape:

What it is?

• A contiguous transboundary wilderness and wildlife corridor network centered on Boma National Park and Badingilo National Park. Managed under a 10-year co-management agreement between the Government of South Sudan and the conservation nonprofit African Parks, it anchors the broader Great Nile Migration Landscape (GNML).

Located in: Situated across the eastern and southern savanna plains of South Sudan, stretching northeast toward the vast Sudd wetlands and eastward to connect with Gambella National Park in neighboring Ethiopia.

UNESCO Recognition: Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2026 as South Sudan’s first World Heritage property under the natural heritage criteria.

Key Features:

• Earth’s Largest Land Mammal Migration: Hosts an annual migratory influx of roughly 6 million ungulates—dwarfing the Serengeti migration—dominated by the white-eared kob, Mongalla gazelle, tiang, and Bohor reedbuck.
• Africa’s Largest Intact Savanna-Wetland Complex: Spans an interconnected expanse of extensive open floodplains, wooded grasslands, and freshwater marshes driven by seasonal rainfall patterns and the movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).
• Crucial Continental Bird Sanctuary: Designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) and a vital staging corridor along the Central African and Nile Flyways for migratory birds, including massive flocks of African openbill storks, Abdim’s storks, and woodland kingfishers.
• Safe Haven for Threatened Avifauna: Provides a critical refuge for the globally vulnerable Shoebill across the Goum swamps, alongside established breeding colonies of endangered hooded vultures.
• Community-Centric Conservation Model: Integrates local pastoralist communities through mobile TANGO field teams, community liaison agents, and alternative livelihood programs to curb poaching and resource depletion.

Significance:

• Acts as an ecological sponge and key watershed for the White Nile, sustaining freshwater flows, seasonal pastures and climate resilience across East Africa.
• Gives South Sudan a global conservation identity while promoting ecotourism, institutional stability and international partnerships after decades of conflict.