By Ines Keane
Parks Australia dates the first “please don’t climb” signs at the base of Uluru to the 1990s. They were put up on behalf of Anangu, the Traditional Owners. On 26 October 2019 the climb closed permanently. The date was chosen on purpose: it was the 34th anniversary of Handback, the day in 1985 when the park was returned to Anangu.
That one decision explains how the park works.
What you are looking at. UNESCO describes Uluru as a sandstone monolith and Kata Tjuta as conglomerate domes, both rising to over 300 metres above flat sandplain and woodland. Kata Tjuta lies 32 kilometres west of Uluru. The colours shift between red, violet and orange as sun, shade and rain cross the rock, UNESCO says, and rain sends water down the fissures in falls of up to 100 metres.
Whose law. Anangu is the word Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people use for themselves, and those are the two main languages spoken in the park. UNESCO calls Tjukurpa, Anangu law, the foundation of the living cultural landscape. It describes the relationships between people, plants, animals and the land, and the ancestral beings who shaped it, and it sets a code of behaviour that Anangu still follow.
How it is run. Joint management is a partnership between Anangu, who hold Aboriginal title, and the Director of National Parks, who leases the land. A majority of the Board of Management must be Indigenous people nominated by the traditional owners, says UNESCO. Mining is not allowed in the park. Tourist accommodation and the airport were placed outside it, and access roads were redirected so visitors approach from what UNESCO calls the right way.
The climb, in order. Parks Australia says people began climbing in the late 1930s and that the first section of chain went in during 1964. After Handback the question of closure was raised, and an Anangu spokesman said the climb would be allowed for now. The 2010 management plan signalled the intention to work towards closing it. In November 2017 the Board agreed its criteria had been met, including the share of visitors climbing falling below 20 per cent, and voted unanimously to close the climb from 26 October 2019. SBS, reporting park figures at the time, put that share at 16 per cent for 2011 to 2015. Parks Australia’s page carries the former Board chairman’s view that the closure is a cause for celebration, not upset.
Two listings in one. UNESCO gives 1987 as the inscription date and records a renomination under cultural criteria, with boundary modifications dated 1994. The criteria listed today cover culture (v and vi) and nature (vii and viii). The listed property is 132,566 hectares.
Going. Parks Australia sells park passes through its own booking page; check it for current fees and conditions. The Cultural Centre and the ranger-led activities are described on the park’s website. We give no prices, hours or weather.
What we left out. Stories, ceremony and sacred-site detail, which are Anangu’s to tell. Accommodation, tours and safety advice, which Parks Australia keeps current and we cannot.
Roam first. Shop later.