eNewsletter | 5 | Wariringanyi
Greetings from all the staff at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
The Anangu name, wariringanyi, for this time means cooling down, getting colder.
Message from Harry Wilson, Board Chairman
Palya!
The cooler season has again been the busiest time of year for the park with increased visitor numbers and a large number of school groups. The park has been busy entertaining and informing visitors through our school group presentations and other programs. Anangu have continued to engage in tourism development in and around the park. Anangu have had the opportunity to experience first hand a range of tourism experiences across the Red Centre, while building and maintaining closer relationships with the Red Centre National Landscapes Committee and other key stakeholders.
As the weather continues to warm up, we will be commencing the installation of new interpretive signs around the park. The signs will bring new life to the park and will help our visitors understand joint management and how Anangu and Western science are integrated in park management. If you're in the park over the next few months, make sure you look out for the new signs and let us know what you think. Enjoy your time at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
Harry Wilson
Chair, Board of Management
Controlled burns
Over the past few months, our rangers have been very busy undertaking controlled burns in the park. We've had a lot of rain over the last 12 months resulting in huge vegetation growth. Controlled burning creates a patchwork of vegetation, ensuring that vegetation remains in different stages of regrowth, promoting healthy habitats. This also reduces the risk of bigger wild fires in the future. Check out our rangers at work!
Red Centre National Landscape - field trip
On June 6 2011, 27 Anangu from the Board of Management and Tourism Consultative Committee embarked on a field trip to learn about the Red Centre. The purpose of the trip was to give Anangu an insight into what it was like to be a tourist in the Red Centre. On the journey, Anangu took part in a range of tourism experiences including Kings Creek Station Stock Camp Experience, APT Wilderness Lodge, Kungkas Can Cook bush food cuisine and the Alice Springs Desert Parks Discovery Centre.
Anangu also met with the Red Centre National Landscapes Steering Committee to gain a better understanding of the role Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park has to play in the broader Red Centre National Landscape. This journey produced a range of potential Indigenous tourism ideas and outcomes for Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Mutitjulu Community. It was a step forward in the future development of cultural tourism in the park and surrounding Aboriginal Lands.
To learn more about the Red Centre National Landscape, visit the website at australia.com/campaigns/nationallandscapes/AustraliasRedCentre.htm
Uluru Tourism Consultative Committee, Board of Management and the Red Centre National Landscapes Steering Committee at Alice Springs Desert Park.
Women's collecting and cultural presentations
Our staff have been out on country collecting bush foods with the Anangu minyma (women) and kungkas (girls). Collecting bush foods is part of working together and sharing knowledge between Anangu and Piranpa (non-Anangu) staff. Bush food collection also ensures culture is maintained by passing traditional knowledge from minymas to the kungkas. Visitors also get to see the preparation of bush foods as part of cultural presentations at the Cultural Centre.
Visiting school groups
Children from over 30 schools from across Australia visited the park in June, July and August. Over the next few months we're expecting many more school groups to visit. As part of their visit, school groups are treated to a talk by our rangers focusing on three main subjects: Welcome to Aboriginal land; joint management; the park's World Heritage values and why Anangu ask people not to climb the rock. School groups then have the chance to ask our rangers questions before exploring the Cultural Centre.
Conservation Volunteers Australia
Invasive buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) is one of the major weeds present in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Buffel grass impacts on the natural biodiversity of the park by competing with native grasses- this impacts on birds and reptiles who rely on the native grasses.
Conservation Volunteers Australia, are helping park rangers battle this invasive weed with volunteers from around the world travelling to Uluru and taking on the hard task of removing this weed by hand.
Junior Rangers - learning about introduced species
Junior Rangers have recently learnt about management of introduced species in the park, such as feral cats. Junior Rangers learn that feral cats are a problem in the national park as they compete with native animals and pose a great risk to the mala (rufous hare wallaby). The wallabies are currently part of a captive breeding program in the park.
Sign project update
Over the next few months, we'll be installing new interpretative signs and maps around the park! New signs include the car sunset viewing area, Mala and Kuniya walks, Kata Tjuta dune viewing platform, Valley of the Winds and Walpa Gorge walks. New plant identification signs will provide visitors with more information than ever before. The signs have been developed in consultation with Anangu and will provide visitors the opportunity to gain a deeper insight into the park's natural and cultural values.
Karen and Reggie planning new signs.
Literacy and numeracy program
Anangu trainees and both male and female Mutitjulu Community ranger groups have been taking part in a literacy and numeracy program which has been running for the last six to eight months. This course has the support and involvement of Anangu Jobs and Nyangatjatjara College. The women attend the college on Wednesdays and the men attend the college on Thursdays.
New Visitor Guide!
The park has just released updated versions of our park Visitor Guide and Maps and Safety brochures. There is a new welcome message - Palya! Make sure you stop into our Cultural Centre to pick up copies of these new publications!
Knowledge for Tour Guides
Over the last few months we've been very pleased to see the number of certified tour guides working out here in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Our compliance checks have shown that tour guides have readily been complying with the requirement to complete the Knowledge for Tour Guides course. We plan to continue our compliance activities over the next few months to make sure that all visitors to the park are receiving a world-class interpretation from their tour guides. Many of our tour guides have already received an ID card from the park, proving that they have completed the course. If you'd like one of our ID cards, please make sure you have submitted your Statement of Attainment to the park.
Photo credits (top banner): Misty open woodland - Grenville Turner.