Beidler earns world prestige

Group recognizes importance of site

HARLEYVILLE — The sanctuary in Four Holes Swamp sits out all by itself, away from a major road, down in a bottom so thick that summer visitors routinely are offered insect repellent. It's every bit as vital as it is remote, an international environmental group says.

Beidler Forest, the 15,000 acre Audubon sanctuary of millenial bald cypress and remarkable wildlife, has been named a site of international importance by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The organization represents 158 countries and 1,712 wetlands sites covering a total area half as big as Europe.

"To be a wetlands designated by the convention is a prestigious ranking. It's quite a noteworthy designation," said Jennifer Koches, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Charleston. "The sanctuary joins the ranks of Okefenokee Swamp, Pelican Island, the Dutch wetlands."

The sanctuary holds the heart of what might be the largest remaining virgin cypress-tupelo swamp forest in the world. Four Holes Swamp runs from the Midlands into the Edisto River, the largest free-flowing blackwater river in the world.

The Ramsar Convention recognized Beidler because of its 1,800 acres of virgin swamp, a diversity of animal and plant life that includes two dozen species that are threatened, endangered or of concern and its wealth of bird life and nesting grounds for migrating species as well as its importance to fish stocks.

It is the first South Carolina wetlands to be designated by the convention, the first privately held site in the United States. A Ramsar news release characterizes the sanctuary as "a small parcel belonging to a private owner (where) a model management and expansion plan is being implemented."

Convention recognition doesn't necessarily go to "the prettiest, best or most pristine wetlands, but to the most important," said Mike Dawson, Beidler Forest center director. "We know we're important, and Audubon is dedicated to our work here. But it's nice to have 35 years worth of work recognized. It's another feather in our cap, another layer of validation that what we're doing is a good thing."

Reach Bo Petersen at 745-5852 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.

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