| The Northern Territory boasts nearly 100 national
parks and reserves, including two of Australia's most famous parks
-- Uluru and Kakadu.
The well-known monolith,
Uluru (Ayers Rock), 348 meters high, is near the southwest corner
of the Territory and may be Australia's most familiar natural icon.
ANANGU
For the Anangu people, the traditional owners of Uluru (Ayers Rock)
is a deeply spiritual place. According to Anangu spiritual belief,
there are many important sites around Uluru that are sacred and/or
secret and of deep spiritual significance. Because of this, the
Anangu like visitors to show respect whilst visiting Uluru. They
request that people do not climb Uluru, however you may walk around
it.
"If you go around the rock you'll learn twice as much about
the people who use the rock shelter and the rock itself," says
Nugal-warra story-keeper Willie Gordon, who won the juried 2009
Indigenous
Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award and recommends visiting
the site with local Aboriginal guides.
According to the park officials, there are significant environmental
impacts of climbing Uluru. If you have a close look you can see
the path is smooth from thousands of footsteps since the 1950s.
This erosion is changing the face of Uluru. Also, there are no toilet
facilities on top of Uluru, and no soil to dig a hole. When it rains,
everything gets washed into the waterholes where reptiles, birds,
animals and frogs live.
GEOLOGY
Some geological specifications: Uluru's rock is actually grey which
has a red iron-oxide coating. The rock rises 348 meters above the
desert. It is 3.6 kilometers in length and 2.4 kilometres wide with
a 9.4 kilometres circumference on the ground.
HISTORY
Title to the rock was handled to the traditional custodians in
1985 from the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, which
granted a 99-year lease on the park.
The proportion of visitors who climb Uluru has dropped. It is estimated
that around 38 percent of the visitors made the climb in 2009, down
from 74 percent in 1990.
In 2009 the Director of National Parks invited public submissions
on a draft plan to guide management over the next decade of one
of Australia's most recognised international symbols, Uluru-Kata
Tjuta National Park. The plan recommends that the rock climb be
closed on cultural, environmental and safety grounds. Details
SPECIAL PERMISSION
Commercial photographers, film makers and artists require permission
to operate at Uluru.
QUOTES
Ananguku ngura nyangatja ka puku lpa pitjama
This is Aboriginal land and we welcome you.
LOCATION
Uluru is 280 miles (450 kilometers) southwest of Alice
Springs
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