Returning Uluru

ABSTRACT

Uluru, once known as Ayer’s Rock, is one of Australia’s most well-known natural phenomena. A World Heritage Site, it is listed for its cultural and natural heritage attributes. Until recently it had been visited by more than 300,000 people annually, many of whom climbed the rock, despite the expressly stated wishes of the Traditional Owners that they should not. In November 2017, the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park authority decided to permanently close the Uluru climb and remove the climb infrastructure, which included a series of 134 posts cemented into the rock and linked by chain, with a cairn at the summit. This paper details the conservation processes and remediating materials considered, then the methods employed to remove this infrastructure safely. Technical requirements included leaving no visible evidence of the posts, avoiding or minimising any damage to the rock surface, and providing a long-lasting in-fill solution that would blend into the rock surface, on the basis that the rock would never be climbed again. The logistics of a site which is some 470 km from the nearest town, has no facilities, and where the surface temperature can reach 60–70°C in mid summer, determined the removal of the evidence of human intervention on the rock site of Uluru. The broader context of Uluru’s recent history and its hand-back to the traditional owners is also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Uluru
• monument conservation
• natural site conservation
• world heritage
• traditional owners

Acknowledgments

Background information on the project and the decision to remove the climb walk was provided by Mike Misso, Ben Phillips and Dianne Scopel of UKTNP, Department of Environment and Energy, Commonwealth Government of Australia. The removal of the cairn, chain and posts was undertaken by David Wallis, Tim Le, Mark Clavarino and Luke Doyle of Spire Solutions. The helicopter services were provided by Ayers Rock Helicopters, piloted by Ian Wallace and Michael Van Der Zypp. Technical advice was provided by David West and Julian Bickersteth of International Conservation Services, Sydney. The permission of the Anangu people, the traditional owners of Uluru, to tell this story is gratefully acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s ).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 UNESCO World Heritage List no 447. Accessed March 20, 2020. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/447

2 Central Land Council Sammy Wilson Statement on Uluru Climb. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://www.clc.org.au/files/pdf/Sammy_Wilson_statement_on_Uluru_climb.pdf

3 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Management Plan, pp. 90–92. Accessed March 20, 2020. http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/f7d3c167-8bd1-470a-a502-ba222067e1ac/files/management-plan.pdf

4 Rive, L. 1998. The Uluru climb chain: Alan White's story of constructing the climb chain at Uluru. Unpublished report as transcript of an interview on 24 March 1998, UKTNP.