Australia to ban climbing on Uluru from 2019

Jennifer Lopez

導讀:澳大利亞烏盧魯卡塔丘塔國家公園的董事會一致投票通過，將于2019年開始禁止游客攀登烏盧魯，還原土著人的神圣領地。

Climbing on Australia’s iconic Uluru landmark will be banned from October 2019,local authorities have confirmed.

The board of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park voted unanimously to end the climb because of indigenous sensitivities.

The giant red monolith in the Northern Territory is a sacred site for Aboriginal Australians.

Local people have long asked visitors not to climb the outcrop,which was known for many years as Ayers Rock.

Signs at the start of the climb ask people to abstain from going up in respect to the traditional law of the Anangu Aboriginal people,the custodians of the land.

“It is an extremely important place,not a playground or theme park like Disneyland,”board chairman and Anangu man Sammy Wilson said on Wednesday.

He said the Anangu people had felt intimidation over the years to keep the climb open because it was a top tourist attraction.

However，the group had consistently wanted to close the site,a sacred men’s area,because of its cultural significance.

The board was made up of eight traditional owners as well as four government officials.

Only 16%of visitors made the climb between 2011 to 2015,according to the board’s data.

The Unesco World Heritage-listed monolith was handed back to its traditional owners in 1985.The ban will commence on 26 October,2019—the 34th anniversary of the handover.

Tourism Central Australia said it supported the decision,pointing out that the public could still access much of the site respectfully.

However,not all have supported the idea of a ban.

Last year,Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles sparked debate when he described the suggestion as “ludicrous”.

“We should explore the idea of creating a climb with stringent safety conditions and rules enforcing spiritual respect,”said Mr Giles,who is Aboriginal.

However，weather and safety concerns have also led to the climb being frequently closed over the past 12 months.Since the 1950s,at least 35 people have died on the trek.

This recent push for the climb’s ban was outlined in the park's 2010～2020 management plan,where it was proposed the climb be closed if attendance numbers dropped under 20%and other visitor activities were successfully established.

More than 250,000 people visit Uluru each year,according to the national park's website.

澳大利亞地方當局已經確認，2019年10月開始，標志性的烏盧魯地標將禁止被攀登。

因為土著居民對此敏感，烏盧魯卡塔丘塔國家公園的董事會一致投票結束攀登。

北方領地的紅色巨石是澳大利亞土著居民的神圣地標。

長期以來，當地人紛紛要求游客不要攀登這個多年被稱為艾爾斯巖的凸起巨石。

攀登開始時的標識提示人們不要攀登，因為這違反阿南古土著人的傳統法律，阿南古人是這片土地的守護者。

董事會主席兼阿南古人威爾遜周三表示：“這是非常重要的地方，而不是迪士尼樂園的游樂場或主題公園。”

他說，過去多年來，這是一個頂級的旅游景點，允許攀登，阿南古人因此受到恐嚇。

然而，由于其文化意義，該部落一直希望關閉該景區——一個神圣的人類區域。

董事會由八名傳統業主和四名政府官員組成。

根據董事會的數據，2011到2015年間，只有16%的游客攀登了該地區。

該聯合國教科文組織世界遺產名錄下的巨石在1985年被轉交給其傳統業主。禁令將于2019年10月26日，即交接34周年開始生效。

澳大利亞中部旅游局表示支持這項決定，指出公眾仍然可以進入大部分地點。

但是，并不是所有人都支持禁令的想法。

去年，北方領地首席部長亞歷克斯·吉爾斯將這個建議描述為“荒唐可笑”后，引發了爭議。

身為土著居民的吉爾斯說：“我們應該探索創造一個具有嚴格的安全條件和執行精神尊重規則的想法?！?/p>

然而，天氣和安全方面的擔憂也導致過去12個月來該地區經常關閉。自20世紀50年代以來，至少有35人在此死于徒步旅行。

公園2010～2020年度管理計劃中概述了攀登禁令的最新進展，如果參加人數下降了20%以上，且其他游客活動成功建立，建議關閉攀登。

根據澳大利亞國家公園網站的數據，每年有超過25萬人訪問烏盧魯。