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Hundreds Of Tourists Are Climbing Uluru Before Ban Begins

Hundreds Of Tourists Are Climbing Uluru Before Ban Begins

Locals say people are illegally camping around the sacred site and leaving tons of rubbish.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Most Aussies are aware that Uluru, also known as Aryes Rock, is a very sacred site for Aboriginal Australians.

The massive sandstone rock formation in the Northern Territory is important to the Pitjantjatjara Anangu people and forms part of their understanding of how the world was created.

PA

For years people have been told not to climb the site because it's viewed as a desecration of a precious site - but tourists have done it anyway.

However, an official climbing ban will come into effect in October and it seems like people are trying to tick it off their bucket list before then.

Photos of climbers going in their droves up the red rock have gone viral on social media and people are pissed.

Glenn Minett/Storyful

"People need to get their sweaty feet off of Uluru. This is the cultural equivalent of shitting in a shrine. Have some dignity! Climb another rock!" wrote one person on Twitter.

Another said: "This is has been against the wishes of traditional owners for a while now. This is akin to tourists using The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin for those gross, tone-deaf 'instagram influencer'-style pics. That is, it's so incredibly disrespectful."

A third added: "Imagine being the sort of racist entitled dipshit who goes to Uluru in the last few months the climb is *open* to deliberately defy the wishes of the traditional owners."

ennekapeapeon/Instagram

But it's not just tourists climbing on the rock that has people annoyed.

According to the ABC, people are illegally camping on the side of the road because the areas around the site are full.

Stephen Schwer, chief executive of Tourism Central Australia told the national broadcaster: "Where a lot of this comes from is people assuming they will simply be able to find space, and when they can't find space, they find it themselves - and when they do, they are trespassing.

"[Tourists] think they're doing a good thing by free camping along the way; what they are actually doing is trespassing on pastoralist and joint-managed and protected land, and a lot of people don't seem to be getting that message.

"When there is the kind of influx of drive travel as we are seeing at the moment, there is an influx of waste."

Locals say there have been hundreds of people coming into nearby towns, hoping to climb Uluru but also not caring for the waste they leave behind.

The ban comes into effect on October 28.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Australia