Climbing the world’s largest monolith Uluru was banned on Nov. 1 amid concerns it was becoming a “theme park,” undermining the giant red rock’s deep cultural significance.
Scrambling up the symbol of the Outback, also known as Ayers Rock, is seen by many tourists as a must-do on their visit to Australia. But they do so against the wishes of the traditional Aboriginal owners, the Anangu, to whom the site is sacred.
At a meeting of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Board, made up of traditional owners and National Park representatives, a unanimous decision was made to ban the activity. It will come into force in October 2019.
Photo: Reuters
照片：路透社
“This decision is for both Anangu and non-Anangu together to feel proud about; to realize, of course it’s the right thing to close it,” board chairman Sammy Wilson said. Speaking to state broadcaster ABC after the decision, he added that the site was not a “theme park.”
“Some people in tourism and government for example might have been saying we need to keep it open but it’s not their law that lies in this land,” he said. “It is an extremely important place, not a playground or theme park like Disneyland.”
The rock’s traditional Aboriginal owners’ connection to the site dates back tens of thousands of years and it has great spiritual and cultural significance to them.
Photo: EPA
照片：歐新社
Wilson urged tourists to respect the ruling. “If I travel to another country and there is a sacred site, an area of restricted access, I don’t enter or climb it, I respect it,” he said in the statement. “It is the same here for Anangu. We welcome tourists here. We are not stopping tourism, just this activity.”
Park authorities have long looked to close the climb permanently. It is currently left up to visitors to decide whether to tackle the sandstone monolith, which soars 348 meters.
About 300,000 people visit each year and, while there are no official figures on how many climb, their numbers are reported to have declined significantly. Tackling Uluru’s sandstone slopes is not an easy exercise and there have been numerous deaths over the years on the rock, where summer temperatures often hit 45 degrees Celsius.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
(AFP)
本月一日一項禁令發布，禁止攀登世界上最大的單體岩石「烏魯魯」，因恐其淪為觀光「主題樂園」，破壞了這紅色巨岩深刻的文化意義。
烏魯魯亦稱作艾爾斯岩，對許多遊客而言，攀登這澳洲內陸的象徵，是到澳洲的必遊行程。但是他們的行為牴觸了這巨岩傳統上的所有者──澳洲原住民阿南古人的意願，因為阿南古人認為這裡是神聖的。
傳統上的所有者和國家公園代表所組成的「烏魯魯卡塔丘塔國家公園管委會」，在一項會議中一致決定禁止烏魯魯的攀登活動。禁令將於二○一九年十月生效。
會後，管委會主席山米‧威爾森向澳洲廣播公司表示，「這個決定是阿南古人和其它族群都能引以為傲的；人們也能藉此機會意識到，禁止攀登當然是對的。」他並補充說，此處並非「主題樂園」。
他說：「某些旅遊界人士和政府人員可能會說，我們需要讓烏魯魯保持開放，但這地方所適用的不是他們的法律。」「這裡是極具重要性的地方，而不是像迪士尼樂園之類的遊樂場或主題樂園。」
烏魯魯和其傳統上的擁有者澳洲土著的淵源，可追溯到數萬年前。烏魯魯對他們來說具有重大的精神和文化意義。
威爾森先生敦促遊客尊重裁決。他在聲明中說：「如果我到別的國家去，那裡有處聖地，有限制進入的地區，我不會進去或爬上去，我會尊重它。」「阿南古人在這裡也一樣。我們歡迎遊客到訪。我們並沒有禁止旅遊，所禁止的只是攀爬活動。」
國家公園當局一直希望能夠永久關閉攀登活動。目前，遊客能恣意決定是否攀登這高聳達三四八公尺的砂岩單體岩石。
這裡每年約有三十萬遊客，雖沒有官方數字說明有多少人攀登，但據報攀登的人數已大幅下降。攀登烏魯魯的砂岩質斜坡並非易事，多年來已有許多人命喪於此。當地在夏天的溫度常高達攝氏四十五度。
（台北時報編譯林俐凱譯）
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