Brigitte Zeplien Warnowschule Papendorf 2012
Wanyu Ulurunya tatintja wiyangku wantima
(Please don’t climb Uluru)
“That’s a really important thing that you are climbing … You shouldn’t climb. It’s not the real thing about this place. The real thing is listening to everything.
And maybe that makes you a bit sad. But anyway that’s what we have to say.”
(Traditional owner)
Cultural Reasons
What visitors call ‘the climb’ is of great spiritual significance to us. The climb is not prohibited, but we prefer that, as a guest on our land you will choose to respect our law and culture by not climbing.
Safety Reasons
Traditionally we have a responsibility to teach and safeguard visitors to our land. The climb can be dangerous and over 35 people have died while attempting to climb Uluru. Many others have been injured. We feel great sadness when a person dies or is hurt on our land. Please read the safety information before you decide whether or not to climb.
Environmental Reasons
There are also 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. You can imagine what happens many times a day when the climb is open. When it rains, everything gets washed off the rock and into the waterholes where precious reptiles, birds, animals and frogs live and depend on that water. A water quality study at Uluru has found significantly higher bacterial levels in the waterholes fed by runoff the climb site, compared to those further away.
(Personal notes about Aborigines “Anangu”, Feb. 2011)
Speak about the problems Aborigines have with tourists.
BrBrigitte Zeplien Warnowschule Papendorf 2012