Traditional owners mark one year since closure of Uluru climb - ABC News

Bessie Nipper was only a child when her parents fought for the Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park to be returned to its traditional owners.

Key points:

• The Uluru climb closed permanently from October 26, 2019
• The ban on climbing has allowed park rangers to do more maintenance work
• Today also marks 35 years since the Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park was handed back to traditional owners

She doesn't remember much about October 26, 1985, except that everyone in her community of Mutitjulu was "really happy".

"Around the time of handback, there were tourists staying in our community, and when we got the land back, the place where tourists stayed when they visited was moved further away and our community could be our own," Ms Nipper said.

Thirty-five years later, traditional owners and community residents are now also celebrating the first anniversary of the long-awaited closure of the Uluru climb.

Artists at Mutitjulu, the Aboriginal community inside the national park, have created artwork and T-shirts to commemorate the milestone.

"Even in 1985, we were looking and thinking about closing it," Deborah Walkabout, who also lives in Mutitjulu, said.

Another local woman, Theresa Wilson, said: "To the people of this area, that rock is sacred and it's important that people never climb the rock."

"We respect the rock because it's so special."

Artwork created to commemorate 35 years of handback and the anniversary of the climb closure.(ABC News: Melissa Mackay)

Climbers gone but 'scar' remains

Lynda Wright was the ranger on climb duty on the final day visitors could scramble up the monolith.

"Lots of people were out here as soon as the park gates opened, queueing up hoping to get that last day to climb," she recalled.

"It wasn't until 10:00am that I was able to open, which meant we had a lot of people going up Uluru all at once, so [it was] very crazy, very dangerous and very scary."

The much-anticipated moment came just before sunset when the sign was switched to "closed" for the last time. The Uluru climb closed permanently from October 26, 2019.

In the 12 months since, Parks Australia says it has only had to issue a fine for a breach of the closure once; to an international couple which attempted to climb the rock earlier this year.

Park rangers say they have been able to spend more time maintaining the national park.(ABC News: Melissa Mackay)

Without having to constantly monitor people climbing the rock, rangers have been able to focus on park management.

"Now we're spending a lot more time doing maintenance in the park — so all of our tracks, fences, signs — and looking after the flora and fauna in a much better way," Ms Wright said.

"Making sure water tanks are clean and full, making sure our visitors are safe."

While the chain leading up Uluru has been removed, evidence of the thousands of people who have climbed the rock will be there for years to come.

A white line where the rock's red rust has worn away can be seen from the base of the old climb site to the top of Uluru.

Anangu traditional owners have requested pictures of the "scar" not be published.

The Bruce Munro Field of Light installation has been extended indefinitely.(ABC News: Melissa Mackay)

Adapting to change

Last year, large crowds flocked to Uluru for one final ascent of the rock, but 12 months later the scenes at the national park could not be more different

At a sunrise tour of the Field of Light art installation, which has become a permanent fixture at Uluru, just 20 people wandered through the lights.

"The last few years, we've had 200 to 300 people out here in the morning and now we've got 20," tour guide Dylan Brown said.

Sceptics had warned visitor numbers at the iconic national park would drop after the closure of the Uluru climb, but COVID-19 restrictions mean the closure's real impact cannot be measured.

And the decision to halt the climb was made when less than 20 per cent of all visitors were choosing to climb Uluru.

"Twenty years ago, the vast majority of any morning tour was based around the sunrise and then a climb option — that's all been phased out in the last 15 years," AAT Kings manager Scott McMillan said.

Many tourists, including Claudio Villella and Andrew Kuhene, are visiting Uluru and Kata-Tjuta because international travel is not an option.(ABC News: Melissa Mackay)

"The climb's never really been a part of the structured tourism, and as people have become more educated and have that information on hand before they get here, they listen to the Anangu traditional owners and they think, 'That’s a good call, I don't want to climb it.'"

With the pandemic threatening to keep international tourists away for years to come, tourism operators are now focusing on the domestic market.

"Everyone's always wanted or thought I've got to get to Uluru, so I think now's going to be the time it's going to happen," Mr McMillan said.

Tourist Nicole Leggett said she was supposed to be in Italy, but instead she and husband George had travelled to Uluru for the first time.

"Normally we would be looking to go overseas, it was cheaper to go to Hawaii, but because that all stopped it made us look at our own backyard," Mrs Leggett said.

The pandemic has seen Nicole and George Leggett swap a holiday in Hawaii for one in the NT.(ABC News: Melissa Mackay)

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiY2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEwLTI2L3VsdXJ1LWNsaW1iLWNsb3N1cmUtb25lLXllYXItYW5uaXZlcnNhcnktY2VsZWJyYXRlZC8xMjgxMTMzMNIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjgxMTMzMA?oc=5

2020-10-25 20:35:00Z
CBMiY2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEwLTI2L3VsdXJ1LWNsaW1iLWNsb3N1cmUtb25lLXllYXItYW5uaXZlcnNhcnktY2VsZWJyYXRlZC8xMjgxMTMzMNIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjgxMTMzMA

Bagikan Berita Ini