Parks Australia and all the other people and organisations involved in looking after Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park have legal and moral obligations to take account of Anangu Tjukurpa and Piranpa law and to recognise other interests within Australia and internationally.
Tjukurpa unites Anangu with each other and with the landscape. It embodies the principles of religion, philosophy and human behaviour that are to be observed in order to live harmoniously, with one another and with the natural landscape. Humans and every aspect of the landscape are inextricably one.
According to Tjukurpa, there was a time when ancestral beings in the form of humans, animals and plants travelled widely across the land and performed remarkable feats of creation and destruction. The journeys of these beings are remembered and celebrated and the record of their activities exists today in aspects and features of the land. For Anangu, this record provides an account and the meaning of the cosmos for the past and the present. When Anangu speak of the many natural features within Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park their interpretations and explanations are expressed in terms of the activities of particular Tjukurpa beings, rather than by reference to geological or other explanations. Primarily, Anangu have a spiritual interpretation of the landscape of the Park. In traditional terms, therefore, they speak of the spiritual meaning of the Park, not just of the shape its surface features take.
Tjukurpa prescribes the nature of the relationships between and the obligations of those responsible for the maintenance of Tjukurpa and the associated landscape and those who visit that land. The central attributes of these relationships are integrity, respect, honesty, trust, sharing, learning,
and working together as equals. In all interactions with visitors to their land, Anangu stress the need for:
Tjukurpa is the foundation of Park management, in terms of infrastructure development, interpretation of the Park’s values and cultural and natural resource management. Anangu members of the Board make a critical contribution to setting policy directions for the Park.
Anangu consider that, to care properly for the Park, Tjukurpa must come first. Their description of what this means in practice is detailed:
• passing on knowledge to young men and women;
• learning to find water and bush food;
• travelling around the country;
• learning about, collecting and using bush medicines;
• visiting sacred sites;
• visiting family in other communities;
• watching the country and making sure Tjukurpa is observed;
• remembering the past;
• thinking about the future;
• keeping visitors safe-keeping women away from men’s sites and keeping men away from women’s sites;
• teaching visitors how to observe and respect Tjukurpa;
• teaching Park staff and other piranpa how to observe Tjukurpa;
• bringing up children strong and caring for children;
• growing the country by doing the right things-for example, hunting at
the right times of the year and not at wrong times or in the wrong way;
• keeping Anangu men and women safe;
• making the country alive-for example, through stories, ceremony and song;
• keeping the Mutitjulu Community private and safe;
• putting the roads and Park facilities in proper places so that sacred places are safeguarded;
• cleaning and protecting rock waterholes inside and outside the Park;
• collecting bush foods and seeds;
• old men teaching stories, young boys and men learning stories;
• old women teaching stories, young girls and women learning stories;
• looking after country - for example, burning work;
• hunting food to feed young children and old people.
Anangu say that if all of these things are not done the requirements of Tjukurpa will not be fulfilled and the country will die (Holden 1998).
In conjunction with the Park Manager, the Office for Joint Management consults Nguraritja on all major and most minor works in the Park, to ensure that neither the nature nor the location of proposed developments conflicts with Tjukurpa. Examples of the results of this consultation are the siting of the Kata Tjuta access road, the siting and design of both the climb and sunset car parks, the location of walking tracks at Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and the siting and design of the Cultural Centre. Nguraritja have in the past modified or rejected a number of proposals for development when they found them to be in conflict with Tjukurpa.
Decision making in the Park has been based on the principle that Anangu responsibility to care for country always take precedence over other management considerations. Both at Board level and in day-to-day management Nguraritja viewpoints have been a significant and deciding factor. Nguraritja opinions have been sought in decision-making processes, including planning for developments, staff selection, work programming, planning for interpretation, and designing training programs. This involvement has been facilitated through
• paying senior Nguraritja for their work in important decision-making processes;
• employing tjilpi (senior men) and minyma pampa (senior women) as rangers and part-time Park employees;
• supporting senior Nguraritja to set work directions in all areas where they have traditional expertise relevant to the management of the
Park, (eg. fire management);
• National Accreditation Authority for Translation and Interpretation (NAATI) accredited interpretor briefings of Anangu Board members and discussions prior to and during Board meetings.
• to ensure consultation with appropriate Nguraritja in relation to Park management, particularly the nature and siting of developments in the Park
• support for Anangu to carry out the Tjukurpa activities described above
Aim
• to continue to respect Tjukurpa in all aspects of Park management and development
• Consultation. In all policy areas and for major management decisions such as Park developments, the Board of Management and Parks Australia will continue to consult Nguraritja through the Office for Joint Management and the Central Land Council.
• To facilitate the process of consultation, new guidelines will be formulated by Parks Australia and the Office for Joint Management.
• Parks Australia and the Office for Joint Management will maintain a record of all consultations with Nguraritja in relation to policy development and important management decisions.
• Training. Permanent staff will continue to receive cross-cultural training, and the learning and use of Anangu languages will be encouraged.
• Community awareness.Continue to involve younger Nguraritja in all aspects of the management of the Park through Tjukurpa.
• Tjukurpa activities. As appropriate support and resource Nguraritja in the conducting of these activities.
The area of Tjukurpa that relates to ecological responsibility is what Anangu usually refer to as ‘looking after country’. Caring for the land is an essential part of ‘keeping the Law straight’. From this area of Tjukurpa Anangu learn their rights and responsibilities in relation to sites within country, other people who are related to the land in the same way, and the ancestral beings with whom sites and tracks are associated. This is also where Anangu learn about the formal responsibilities of caring for the land.
Creations that derive from Tjukurpa are not confined to geological features such as rock faces, boulders and waterfalls. Plants and animals derive from the creative period of Tjukurpa. Much of what Piranpa would call biological or ecological knowledge about the behaviour and distribution of plants and animals is considered by Anangu to be knowledge of Tjukurpa.
Such knowledge commonly forms part of the content of the stories of the ancestral beings’ activities and is taught in association with exploitation of food resources. Thus, whilst travelling the land to gather and hunt for food, Anangu learn how such activities are related to a unified scheme of life that stretches from the beginning of all things to the present.
Tjukurpa also refers to the record of all activities of ancestral beings, from the beginning to the end of their travels. With few exceptions, Tjukurpa within the Park is part of much wider travels of ancestral beings. The relationship of the Park area with other areas is traceable by sites along the tracks of ancestral beings on their way to or from Uluru or Kata Tjuta, thus making the Park an important focus of many converging ancestral tracks.
Around Uluru, for instance, there are many examples of ancestral sites. The Mala Tjukurpa tells of mala (the rufous hare-wallaby) that travelled to Uluru from the North. Subsequently they fled to the south and south-east (into South Australia) as they attempted to escape from Kurpany, an evil dog-like creature that had been specifically created and sent from Kikingkura (close to the Western Australian border).
It is important that planning in the Park take into account the Anangu perception that, through these links, areas in the Park derive their meaning from, and contribute meaning to, places outside the Park. Links with other places form an integral part of the way in which Anangu ‘map’ the landscape of the Park, which in turn has implications for their decisions about areas in the Park and the strong relationships they wish to maintain with the entire Western Desert area. The location of Homelands in Anangu lands bordering the Park has been heavily influenced by such landscape ‘mapping’. The homelands also reinforce the social connections and ritual obligations among Nguraritja. Taken together, they mean a responsibility for looking after country. Thus the Homelands are integral to the Tjukurpa of Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park.
Anangu have used landscape ‘maps’ for many management purposes during the operation of the previous Plan. This knowledge has assisted with the location of Park developments, the identification of fauna and flora colonies, and the interpretation of landscape features for visitors to the Park. The Liru and Mala Walks, in particular, were constructed on the basis of landscape ‘maps’ derived from Tjukurpa.
• some walking tracks and roads have the potential to create a network that is at odds with the maintenance of Tjukurpa and Park values
• appropriate consultation with Nguraritja who live beyond the Park’s boundaries is required
• sufficient funding to engage Anangu in flora and fauna surveys and other ecological record work
• support of occupation of homelands is linked to the maintenance of Tjukurpa.
Aims
• to ensure that walking tracks and roads do not create a network that is at odds with the maintenance of Tjukurpa and Park values
• to ensure that Nguraritja who live beyond the Park’s boundaries are consulted
• to ensure that there is sufficient funding to engage Anangu in flora and fauna surveys and other ‘ecological record’ work
• to ensure Nguraritja contribute in all areas of decision making and activity relating to looking after country
• to continue to investigate and record Anangu ecological knowledge and understanding
• to continue to use Anangu landscape ‘maps’ as planning, resource-management and training tools
• to reinforce Tjukurpa links beyond the Park’s boundaries through the support of Anangu homeland and management initiatives
• Decision making. In all decision-making processes the Board of Management and Parks Australia will continue to give high priority to Nguraritja responsibility for looking after their country.
• Parks Australia will continue to consult about planning and work programming for ‘looking after country’ work through the Office for Joint Management and the Central Land Council.
• Funding. To include Nguraritja in high-level decision making, the Director of National Parks and Wildlife will continue to make funds available through the Community Traditional Consultancy budget and other agreed measures.
• Employment. Parks Australia will continue to employ senior Nguraritja as traditional consultants to set work directions in areas of traditional land-management expertise.
• Research. The research program for the Park will include Anangu ecological knowledge and understanding where appropriate. Consultancies may be commissioned to allow for the production of interpretive materials based on this research.
• Homelands. The joint management partners will cooperate with the management of adjacent homelands within legal and budgetary constraints.
Anangu have lived in and maintained the landscape and Tjukurpa at Uluru and Kata Tjuta for many thousands of years. The story of this occupation and land use can be reconstructed from archaeological deposits, from the rock art and engravings Anangu created to depict events from Tjukurpa and their own lives, and from the personal histories of people living in the Park today. Anangu history is an important part of the cultural significance of the Park and is worthy of record and preservation.
During the currency of the previous Plan measures for the protection and conservation of rock art were implemented, among them the installation of platforms, guide rails and barriers. Consultants were also engaged to provide a management plan for rock art at Uluru. This included data management, field assessment, and recommendations for specific sites. Silicon drip lines have been installed in a number of caves. Some vandalism to rock art has been repaired and one cave has been closed to visitors.
In the past some work has been done to collect and interpret for visitors the oral history of Uluru and its traditional owners; examples are the film ‘Uluru: an Anangu story’, made by Anangu with Film Australia, and audio and video displays at the Cultural Centre.
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Figure 4 Some Anangu place names at Uluru
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Figure 5 Some Anangu place names at Kata Tjuta
• ensuring the adequate enforcement of the laws designed to prevent inappropriate access to sacred sites
• securing adequate funding to engage Anangu in the management of cultural heritage sites
• effectively explain to visitors the reasons for prohibiting access to some areas of the Park and why at some places no Tjukurpa interpretation is offered.
Aims
• to empower appropriate Anangu to manage all sacred sites in the Park
• to enhance the protection and conservation of the Park’s rock art resources
• for Parks Australia staff in conjunction with Nguraritja, to identify and take appropriate action to conserve the Park’s archaeological resources
• to record and interpret to visitors Anangu oral history and Anangu perceptions about use of the Park’s landscape
• Interpretation. Information contained in interpretive brochures (such as Park Notes) relating to Anangu rock art will be revised. Additional measures for interpreting rock art will be considered in the development of an interpretation plan for the Park.
• Anangu oral history will be recorded as appropriate and interpretive materials based on this history will be developed. Consultancies may be commissioned to work on this.
• Conservation. Measures recommended during previous archaeological surveys for the rehabilitation and conservation of rock art and other culturally important sites will be implemented as a matter of priority. An ongoing program of rock art, and other heritage resource conservation, protection and interpretation will be developed and implemented during the life of this Plan. Systematic surveys will be carried out, under proposed cultural heritage management guidelines, during the life of this Plan in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the archaeological resources of the Park.
• Collaborative Work. Nguraritja and Parks Australia staff will continue to work collaboratively to determine needs, develop appropriate strategies and take action for the protection of sacred sites.
Like any body of law, Tjukurpa is the source of rules of appropriate behaviour that relate people to other people and people to the land. The first area of appropriate behaviour deals with day-to-day things such as protocol, the relationship between men and women, marriage, child rearing, and the relationships between the old and the young and between various other categories of kin.
From earliest times, throughout the entire Western Desert area, Anangu have been able to establish through kinship or family ties their social relationships with other people so as to be able to use kin terms comfortably. They then deal with each other as family (walytja), even if they have never before met. This is how Anangu are able to refer to themselves as ‘one people’. These structured relationships carry intricate economic, social and religious rights and responsibilities. One of the advantages of such social organisation is that it supports cooperative strategies for movement over the land and for exploitation of the land’s resources, even by people who cannot be constantly in contact with one another.
Employment arrangements for Anangu working in the Park take into account social and religious obligations by allowing for considerable flexibility in work hours. Where Anangu have been required to go away for several weeks at a time for religious ceremonies or to honour other social or family responsibilities Parks Australia has been able to adapt work requirements so as not to disadvantage Anangu and not to affect overall Park-management responsibilities.
The Park was closed for three hours in 1987 to allow the unobserved transit through the Park of Anangu who were engaged in ceremonial activity. Since this time parts of the Park have sometimes been closed for ceremonial reasons. These closures are effected in a way that minimises disruption to visitors.
Park staff have received instruction in aspects of social behaviour that affect Anangu work practices. This includes avoidance relationships (kin not permitted to talk to or look at each other), the appropriate type of work for men and women, and the precedence of old people over the young in decision making. These aspects of social behaviour are taken into account in the development of work programs.
• insufficient employment opportunities currently exist for young people, to work in cultural maintenance
• the flexibility of employment conditions to meet Anangu cultural needs
Aims
• to continue to support Anangu social and religious obligations in connection with Tjukurpa
• to facilitate additional and more flexible employment opportunities and conditions for Anangu
• Employment. Flexible working arrangements for Anangu will continue to be developed by the joint management partners.
• Training. Anangu cultural needs will continue to be recognised in their employment and training.
• The tourism industry will also be encouraged to create flexible work opportunities for the employment of Anangu.
• The Board of Management may approve other measures that facilitate the observance of Anangu social or religious responsibility.
2.2.5 Tjukurpa: managing visitors and maintaining the Law
Wangkanytjaku iwara patu-patu wirura tjunkunytjaku minga tjutaku munu alatjingku ngura Tjukuritja tjuta wirura anga kanyinytjaku munu minga tjuta safe kanyinytjaku.
For Anangu, an essential part of ‘keeping the Law straight’ involves ensuring that knowledge is not imparted to the wrong people and that access to significant or sacred sites is not gained by the wrong people, whether ‘wrong’ means men or women, Piranpa visitors, or certain other Anangu.
It is as much a part of Anangu religious responsibility to care for this information properly as it is for other religions to care for their sacred precincts and relics. The same holds true for sites and locations on ancestral tracks where events that are not for public knowledge took place. Neither knowledge of nor access to such sites is permissible under Anangu Law. Even inadvertent access to some sites constitutes sacrilege.
Special management measures have been taken to help Anangu continue protecting Tjukurpa whilst allowing visitors to enjoy the Park. One of the main objectives of the interpretive strategy for the Park is to enhance visitors’ knowledge and appreciation of what constitutes culturally appropriate behaviour as part of the experience of visiting a jointly managed national park.
Policies and regulations in relation to visitor management have been developed in such a way as to emphasise Anangu perceptions of appropriate behaviour for visitors. Of particular importance are policies and guidelines developed by the Board of Management for commercial filming and photography and the fencing off of certain areas around the base of Uluru, to ensure visitors do not inadvertently contravene Tjukurpa restrictions.
During the life of a previous Plan Anangu expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the information about Anangu culture and Tjukurpa that visitors were receiving from published materials and tour company guides. To help counter this, the award-winning Uluru - Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre was built, opening in 1995. The Centre has greatly increased opportunities for visitors to learn about Tjukurpa, Anangu culture and the Park.
Within the bounds of appropriate access, Tjukurpa provides a basis for most of the interpretation of the Park to visitors. Anangu want visitors to understand how they interpret this landscape. Tjukurpa contains information about the landscape features, the ecology, the flora and fauna, and appropriate use of areas of the Park. Tjukurpa has been passed down through the generations and can be shared with visitors. In addition, Anangu believe that visitors’ understanding of the Park can be enhanced by the provision of information about how Anangu use the Park’s resources and the history of their use of these resources.
Anangu explanations of the Park’s landscape form the core of interpretive materials prepared for visitors. Among such materials are the Park Notes, the Liru, Mala and Mutitjulu Walk brochures and signs, the Kata Tjuta viewing platform signs, and the interpretive display in the Cultural Centre.
• occasional adverse attitudes to restrictions on access to particular parts of the Park
• to ensure that where other scientific interpretations of the landscape are provided-for example, geological, biological and archaeological interpretations-they are offered in ways that complement the primary Anangu interpretation
• to clearly and sensitively explain the reasoning behind access restrictions to some parts of the Park, so that visitors can understand and accept the restrictions
Aims
• to expand and develop the program of interpretation of Anangu explanations of the landscape and ensure that interpretive materials promote Anangu values and priorities
• to support and enforce existing policies and regulations and develop new polices for visitor management based on Anangu perceptions of appropriate behaviour for visitors
• Interpretation. Parks Australia will continue to direct resources to expanding and developing interpretive materials and activities that present Anangu explanations of the Park’s landscape to visitors.
• An interpretive plan identifying the most appropriate ways of interpreting Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park to visitors will be developed.
• An explanation of why access restrictions are imposed will be considered for the interpretive plan.
• Policies. Parks Australia and the Board of Management will continue to support and enforce existing visitor-management policies to protect and maintain the Park’s social and cultural values.
• The Board of Management will develop new policies for appropriately managing visitors’ behaviour if required to further protect the social and cultural values of the Park by Nguraritja.
• Access. Restrictions on visitor access to areas of the Park may be imposed in order to maintain the privacy of cultural events being held by Nguraritja.
• Interpretive materials will be prepared to enhance visitors’ understanding of why restrictions are placed on access to parts of the Park.
The interests of Aboriginal people in Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park stem principally from an individual’s or a group’s relationship to the land, as defined by Tjukurpa, or Anangu Law. The term Anangu use to describe all the people with such interests in the land is ‘Nguraritja ‘. There is not necessarily a directly equivalent term in English, but there are several (essentially non-Aboriginal) legal constructs that attempt to define various Aboriginal interests in the Park, as follows.
2.3.1 Traditional Aboriginal owners
‘Traditional Aboriginal owners’ is defined in the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. In relation to land, the term means a local descent group of Aboriginal people who
(a) have common spiritual affiliations to a site on the land being affiliations that place the group under a primary spiritual responsibility for that site and for the land; and
(b) are entitled by Aboriginal tradition to forage as of right over that land.
The Lease for the Park also refers to ‘relevant Aboriginals’, which includes all the traditional Aboriginal owners of the Park plus Aboriginal people entitled to use or occupy the Park and Aboriginal people permitted by them to reside in the Park.
The Uluru - Katatjuta Aboriginal Land Trust was established under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 to hold title to the land making up the National Park. The Director of National Parks and Wildlife leases the Park from the Land Trust. Under the Land Rights Act, the Central Land Council represents the Land Trust.
2.3.2 Community aspirations
Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park is an Aboriginal landscape. While the Park has been established to conserve its natural and cultural values, and to provide for appropriate visitor use, it is also a management objective that recognition be given to the rights of the Aboriginal landowners and managers. It is particularly important to Nguraritja that their children and future generations enjoy their rights, responsibilities and cultural understanding.
It is essential that Parks Australia understands Nguraritja aspirations and that it assists, where possible, with community development. Within the region of the Park, federal and Territory government agencies and regional Aboriginal associations are primarily responsible for matters such as health (including managing substance abuse), housing, education and employment. Recognising how important these things are and supporting community-development programs greatly assists in making joint management of the Park strong and sustainable.
It is also important to Nguraritja that their partners in park management, and the wider Australian community, appreciate and respect their community and cultural values and priorities.
2.3.3 Looking after country
Central to Tjukurpa is the concept that Anangu are responsible for looking after country. This responsibility entails obligations to current and future generations. These obligations are shared by Nguraritja and Parks Australia.
A prime objective of joint management is to make sure that traditional skills and values and a ‘scientific’ approach complement each other in looking after the country of the Park. Nguraritja have expressed their wish for Parks Australia, as a joint management partner, to contribute current best-practice knowledge about park management to augment their traditional management practices. Looking after country is one of the most successful expressions of joint management in the Park: Anangu and Piranpa share knowledge and work.
2.3.4 Economic opportunities
The land has always provided for the economic well-being of Nguraritja. Traditionally, harvesting and using the Park’s resources have provided the basis for their economy. Nguraritja want to continue their tradition of harvesting and using resources but they also want to benefit from their land in other, new ways.
Nguraritja expect to benefit from their land being managed as a national park through direct employment in the Park, by provision of services to Anangu enterprises and Parks Australia and by being paid rent. They seek greater benefit from the use of their land for tourism and have asked that prime tourism resources or activities be reserved for their benefit. This, of course, would not prevent partnerships between Piranpa and Anangu in developing tourism ventures. Anangu expect to be able to explore and develop new opportunities where these activities do not detract from Park values.
2.4 The Lease
The Park is owned by the Uluru - Katatjuta Aboriginal Land Trust (representing the traditional owners) and leased to the Director of National Parks and Wildlife as a national park. The Lease expires on 25 October 2084. With the exception of the term, the provisions of the Lease may be renegotiated by the Land Trust, the Central Land Council and the Director every five years. The Land Trust and the Director may also vary any provision of the Lease at any time. Five years before the Lease expires the Land Trust and the Director will negotiate for its renewal or extension. The Land Trust and the Director may agree in writing to terminate the Lease at any time.
If any legislation enacted in connection with the Park is inconsistent with the Lease and substantially detrimental to the Land Trust or to ‘relevant Aboriginals’ in terms of the Park’s administration, management or control, the Lease is deemed to be breached and may lead to termination of the Lease on 18 months’ notice being given by the Land Trust, subject to an obligation to negotiate bona fide with a view to a new lease being granted.
Under the Lease the following rights of ‘relevant Aboriginals’ are reserved (subject to the Plan of Management):
• to enter, use and occupy the Park in accordance with Aboriginal tradition;
• to continue to use the Park for hunting and food gathering and for ceremonial and religious purposes;
• to reside in the Park at the Mutitjulu Community site.
The Director’s responsibilities under the Lease include:
• at the request of the Land Trust, to sub-let any reasonable part of the Park to the Mutitjulu Community Inc. provided the sublease is in accordance with the Act, the Land Rights Act and the Plan of Management;
• to pay rent to the Central Land Council on behalf of the Land Trust; (Currently this is $150,000 a year, indexed from May 1990, and an amount equal to 25 per cent of the Park revenue);
• to comply with the Act and Regulations, other laws and the Plan of Management and to manage the Park in accordance with world best practice;
• to promote and protect the interests of ‘relevant Aboriginals’ and their Aboriginal traditions and areas of significance and to promote Aboriginal administration, management and control of the Park;
• to promote the employment and training of ‘relevant Aboriginals’;
• to promote understanding of and respect for Aboriginal traditions, languages, cultures, customs and skills;
• to consult the Central Land Council, the Pitjantjatjara Council Inc. and Mutitjulu Community Inc. about the management of the Park;
• to encourage Aboriginal business and commercial enterprises;
• to provide funding to the Mutitjulu Community Inc. to employ a community liaison officer (now called Coordinator, Joint Management);
• to provide maintenance of roads and other facilities;
• to implement a licensing scheme for tour operators;
• to properly collect and audit entrance fees and other charges;
• to fund the administration of the Board of Joint Management;
• to maintain specified staffing arrangements;
• to restrict public access to areas of the Park for the purpose of Aboriginal use of these areas;
• to assist the Central Land Council in identifying and recording sacred sites in the Park;
• to exchange research information with the Central Land Council.
2.5 International obligations
2.5.1 The concept of a national park
The definition of a protected area derived from the IV World Congress on National Parks and Protected Areas is:
An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means
Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park has also been assigned the IUCN Category II National Park. This is defined by the IUCN as;
A natural area of land or sea, designated to (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and future generations, (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of designation of the area and (c) provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible
Along with many countries, the IUCN has recognised the appropriateness of indigenous people playing a legitimate role in the management of
national parks declared over traditional lands (Dassman 1973; CNPPA 1978). Australia leads the world in implementation of the concept of cooperative management of national parks on traditionally owned land.
The Environmental Reform (Consequential Provisions) Act 1999 which will commence at the same time as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 deems the declaration of a park under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 to have stated that the purposes for which the park was declared were the preservation of the area in its natural condition and the encouragement and regulation of the appropriate use, appreciation and enjoyment of the area by the public.
2.5.2 World Heritage listing
Australia was one of the first countries in the world to become a State Party to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention). The Convention came into force in 1975. A State Party is a country which has ratified the Convention. As at January 2000 there were 158 State Parties to the Convention. Of these, 118 had properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. As at January 2000 there were 630 properties on the World Heritage List. Of these, 480 are listed for their cultural World Heritage values, 128 for their natural World Heritage values and 22 for their mixed (natural and cultural World Heritage) values. As at January 2000, Australia has 13 properties inscribed on the World Heritage List.
The World Heritage Convention aims to promote cooperation among nations to protect world-wide heritage which is of such outstanding universal value that its conservation is of concern to all people. State Parties to the Convention undertake to identify, protect, conserve, present and transmit to future generations the World Heritage properties on their territory.
As noted, Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park is one of few properties on the World Heritage list for both its natural and cultural values.
It was listed in 1987 as a natural property for two reasons:
• an outstanding example representing significant ongoing geological processes, biological evolution and man’s interaction with his natural environment; and
• contains unique, rare or superlative natural phenomena, formations or features or areas of exceptional natural beauty, such as superlative examples of most important ecosystems to man, natural features, spectacles presented by great concentrations of animals, sweeping vistas covered by natural vegetation and exceptional combinations of natural or cultural elements.
In 1994 Uluru - Kata Tjuta became the second property in the world to be listed as a cultural landscape, again for two reasons:
• an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement and land-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change; and
• directly and tangibly associated with events or living traditions, or with beliefs of outstanding universal significance.
Appendix A summarises the features of Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park that meet these natural and cultural World Heritage criteria.
The listing of Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park as a World Heritage Cultural Landscape provides international recognition of Tjukurpa as a major religious philosophy which links Anangu to their environment, and is their primary tool for caring for country.
2.5.3 UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation)
In 1995 Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park won the Picasso Gold Medal, UNESCO’s highest award for outstanding efforts to preserve the landscape and Anangu culture and for setting new international standards for World Heritage management. The award went jointly to Parks Australia and the Uluru - Kata Tjuta Board of Management.
In addition, in January 1977 Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park was accepted as a biosphere reserve under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere program, an international network that aims to protect and preserve examples of the world’s major ecosystem types.
2.6 National legislation, polices and strategies
2.6.1 Key Parks and Land Rights Legislation
The legislative foundation for the joint management arrangements applying to Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park is found in the Commonwealth’s National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 and Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. Over the years both Acts have been amended in concert to ensure that a solid, workable basis exists for the complex actions and activities of joint management.
Among other things, the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975:
• provides for Aboriginal land leased to the Director to be declared a national park;
• provides for the establishment of a board of management with an Aboriginal majority for such a park;
• determines the powers and functions of the Director and the board of management;
• requires a plan of management to be prepared for a park and determines the process that must be followed in its preparation;
• requires the Director to manage the park in accordance with the plan of management and establishes a dispute-resolution process if disagreement arises between the Director and the board. The board has the function of making decisions in relation to the management of the Park that are consistent with the plan.
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, which will replace the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 from no later than 16 July 2000, has similar provisions and requirements.
Among other things, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) Act 1976:
• provides for the granting of traditional Aboriginal land to Aboriginal Land Trusts for the benefit of Aboriginals entitled by Aboriginal tradition to the use or occupation of the land;
• allows land trusts to lease land vested in them;
• makes it a condition of the grant to certain land trusts (including Uluru-Kata Tjuta Aboriginal Land Trust) that the relevant land council enter into an agreement with the Director to direct the land trust to grant a lease to the Director for the purpose of a national park;
• ensures that the interests of traditional owners are respected in any such arrangement;
• provides for the establishment of Aboriginal land councils to fulfil several functions, including to represent the interests of certain Aboriginals in relation to matters affecting Aboriginal land. Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park is in the area for which the Central Land Council is established under the Act.
2.6.2 Other relevant Commonwealth legislation
Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975
Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park is on the register of the National Estate and consequently the Minister and Director are subject to provisions of the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975 relating to any activities that may affect to a significant extent the Park’s National Estate values. The Act is expected to be changed under the new Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983
The World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983 provides for the protection and conservation of those properties in Australia that are of outstanding universal natural or cultural value.
Part 3, division 1, subdivision A and part 15, division 1 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conser vation Act 1999 will replace the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983. However, Schedule 6 of the associated Environmental Reform (Consequential Provisions) Act 1999 provides that the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act, and all instruments (including regulations, Proclamations and consents) made under it and in force immediately before its repeal, continue to apply in relation to properties and sites that were declared by the Proclamations to be properties and sites to which sections of the Act apply, as if the Act had not be repealed. Consent can still be given under section 9, 10 or 11 of the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act to do acts prescribed under that Act in relation to a proclaimed world heritage property.
Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conser vation Act 1999 the Minister is required by s.316(1) to make a plan of management for each Australian property that is included on the World Heritage List, except that plans may not be made for so much of a property as in a Commonwealth reserve (s.316(b)). Plans for Commonwealth reserves such as Uluru must be prepared taking into account Australia’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention (s.368(3)(g)).
Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974
The Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974 establishes procedures to be followed if there is potential for serious impacts on a national park’s environment. For example, it has been customary to assess new plans of management under this Act.
Chapters 2 and 4 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conser vation Act 1999 will replace the Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974. Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, actions that would or are likely to have a significant impact on a matter of “national environmental significance” will prima facie be subject to the assessment and approval provisions in Chapters 2 and 4 of the Act. The matters of national environmental significance are:
• World Heritage properties;
• wetlands of international importance (Ramsar wetlands);
• listed threatened species and communities;
• listed migratory species;
• nuclear actions;
• the marine environment; and
• such further actions as are prescribed by the regulations under the Act.
Responsibility for compliance with the Act lies with persons taking relevant “controlled” actions. A person proposing to take an action that the person thinks may be or is a controlled action must refer the proposal to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage for the Minister’s decision whether or not the action is a controlled action. Civil and criminal penalties may be imposed for breaches of the Act.
Endangered Species Protection Act 1992
The Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 provides for the conservation of endangered and vulnerable species and communities and for the mitigation and control of threatening processes responsible for the species’ and communities’ status.
The Act will be replaced by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. That Act continues provisions relating to listing of species and threatening processes, preparation of recovery plans and threat abatement plans and, preparation of inventories of species.
2.6.3 Strategies and policies
In recent times a number of significant strategies and policy documents have been developed by the Commonwealth Government or its agencies. Some are pertinent to the management of Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park and must be taken into consideration in determining policies. Among them are the following:
• the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development
• the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological Diversity
• the National Tourism Strategy
• the National Ecotourism Strategy
• the National Indigenous Tourism Strategy
• The National Aboriginal and Islander Health Strategy
• the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission’s Environment Policy.
2.7 Northern Territory legislation and policies
Northern Territory laws are applicable to the Park and people in the Park provided those laws are not inconsistent with the Na tional Park s and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 and Regulations or other Commonwealth laws. They must also not interfere with the performance of functions and exercise of powers by the Director of National Parks and Wildlife. Among Northern Territory laws of relevance to the Park are those relating to criminal and illegal activities, sacred sites and heritage, traffic and motor vehicles, work health and occupational health and safety, and provision of services
(power, water and sewerage). The operation of Northern Territory laws relating to wildlife conservation in areas adjoining the Park may be of relevance given the objective and need to manage the Park in a regional context.
Given the proximity of Yulara and its airport to the Park, Northern Territory government policies and actions relating to such activities as tourism and its promotion may have considerable effects on operations in the Park.
Among Northern Territory laws of potential relevance to the Park are the following:
Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1995
The Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1995 provides for the declaration of parks, reserves, protected areas and sanctuaries in the Territory. It provides for the protection and conservation of wildlife (including plants and animals), and for the control of pests. It provides certain management powers to the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory (which is constituted under separate legislation). Those powers are relevant to parks and reserves under the Act (not including Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park) and to wildlife conservation.
The Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989 provides for the establishment of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority. It allows for the recording and registration of sacred sites. It makes it an offence to enter, work on, use or desecrate a sacred site without a certificate from the Authority, and provides heavier penalties than alternative legislation. Some sites in the Park have been registered under the Act.
Heritage Conservation Act 1991
The Heritage Conservation Act 1991 established a Heritage Advisory Council, which identifies and assesses places and objects for their heritage values, and makes recommendations to the relevant Minister about the declaration of heritage places and heritage objects. The Act makes it an offence to work on, damage, demolish, destroy, desecrate or alter a heritage place or heritage object. The Act also protects certain archaeological places and objects.
[We are really happy now this work is being done together. We’ve thought hard about the issues in the Park and put all our ideas down about looking after it according to the Tjukurpa of our grandfathers’ spear and our grandmothers’ carrying bowl and the land protection laws.
Before, we were in danger of becoming lost, unable to protect Tjukurpa and look after our people well enough within the white system. Today we are drawing the different ideas together and we’re starting joint management in the real sense of the term.
I am overjoyed that we are really working together now to form one strong plan which will carry us into the future. We can follow this guide we are making together so our direction in management is strong, firm and true.
When we bring these ideas together today we will be really starting proper joint management. We need to make the plan first so joint managent is strong and true. We’ve gained a lot of experience in many things which enables us to work well toward good things for the future.