The cemeteries were maintained by the whalers whilst the stations were operating. Subsequently, some maintenence was undertaken by the British Antarctic Survey and the military garrisons stationed on the island. Since the early 1990s the South Georgia Museum Trust, and then the South Georgia Heritage Trust, has maintained the Grytviken Cemetery.
Other visitors have occasionally carried out maintenence.
In January 2016 a team from the South Georgia Government station at King Edward Point visited the ocean Harbour cemetery and installed six new crosses to replace the old ones that had fallen apart over the preceding decades. Only one cross, marking the grave of Carl Edvardsen, was still intact and in good condition, though …
In December 2003 the BSES Expeditions team of young people re-erected some fallen headstones at Leith, and repaired fences at Leith and Husvik.