You can climb Mount Ararat.
I'll leave it at that as I don't want to start a yike of biblical proportions![bigsmile1]
You can climb Mount Ararat.
I'll leave it at that as I don't want to start a yike of biblical proportions![bigsmile1]
It's owned by the Anungu. None of us own it, just them.
Our government has leased it from them for 99 years, under certain conditions.
It would be interesting to the terms of the lease. What behavior would give the Anungu the legal power to declare that Australian society had breached the terms of the lease, voided it and would allow the Anungu to repudiate the lease and shut the gate?
So, answered my own question.
It's a 90 year lease with payment of $150,000 a year upfront plus 25% of entrance fees and other charges.
The NPWS agrees to protect areas of significance to the Anungu.
The Anungu can request any area of the park to be closed for traditional purposes.
So, to summarize, we should be grateful that climbing Uluru, which is a senior men's sacred area, has been allowed for as long as it has been.
Painful as it may be for some people to admit, the fact is they own it, not us.
ATNS - Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements project
I can rember when access to the lunette at Mungo was open to all day visitors. Certainly a few people climbed the wind weathered features but with no signage most didn’t know better. Now we pay for access on top of the Parks fees.
I can see in the future guided tours being offered to climb Uluru.
indigenous tourism is becoming a dollar driven industry IMO.
Like the native american casino's??
Ha. I visited Mungo as a kid, parents driving a Nissan Prairie! There was not even any open public knowledge of the importance then; we just walked everywhere looking for bones, as we knew from contacts that the area was ‘special’. We didn’t try or intend to disturb or take anything though. Now of course everything is controlled... but for good reason.
The Aboriginal migration into Australia was around 60 thousand years ago. "Uluru" is around 600 million years old, therefore, for around 599,940,000 years it was just a rock and not at all sacred!
What is this fuss all about, really?
True, but they were still here well before us, so have a prior claim.