Canberra, Oct 26 Indigenous Austral on Monday marked the first anniversary of the climbing ban imposed on Uluru …<\/p>\n
Canberra, Oct 26 Indigenous Austral on Monday marked the first anniversary of the climbing ban imposed on Uluru or the Ayers Rock, the sacred Aboriginal site in Northern Territory (NT)<\/p>\n
Uluru is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site and was named earlier this month as the world’s third best places to see by international travel guide Lonely Planet, reports Xinha news agency.<\/p>\n
It is also considered to be a place of spiritual significance by its indigenous custod, the Anangu people, who have pleaded with tourists not to climb it for many years.<\/p>\n
Climbing Uluru was officially banned from October 26, 2019.<\/p>\n
“To the people of this area, that rock is sacred and it’s important that people never climb the rock,” Theresa Wilson, a local indigenous woman, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday.<\/p>\n
Opponents of closing the climb argued at the time that it would cause visitor numbers to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to drop.<\/p>\n
However, tourism operators said that the decision has brought a new wave of visitors interested in indigenous culture and history to the area.<\/p>\n
“Visitors surveyed since the closure of the climb reported that learning about Aboriginal culture was a transformative and memorable experience, with 84 percent of visitors surveyed reporting that visiting Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park enhanced their understanding of Anangu culture,” a spokesperson for Parks Australia told News Corp Australia.<\/p>\n
Lynda Wright, a park ranger, said that the closure has had wide-ranging benefits for the area with rangers able to dedicate more time to park management.<\/p>\n
“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,” she told the ABC.<\/p>\n
( With inputs from IANS )<\/p>\n
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Canberra, Oct 26 Indigenous Austral on Monday marked the first anniversary of the climbing ban imposed on Uluru … Canberra, Oct 26 Indigenous Austral on Monday marked the first anniversary… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n