Visitors will no longer be able to set foot in one of Australia’s top tourist destinations under a proposed plan to protect its cultural significance to traditional owners.
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is the largest lake on the continent. Every few years it explodes into a spectacular kaleidoscope of color as Queensland’s torrential rains fill the immense basin with salt water, transforming the bleak desert landscape into an oasis of flowers and birds, and attracting scores of tourists.
But it is a sacred site to the Arabana people, who have lived in the region for millennia and are the holders of native title to the lake.
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre (pictured) is a sacred site for the Arabana people, and all recreational access to the lakebed will be prohibited under a proposed management plan.
Under a proposed management plan, all recreational access to the lakebed will be prohibited out of respect for Arab culture.
Their tradition considers it dangerous to visit the lake without the guidance of a cultural authority.
Swimming, driving, boating and landing planes on the lake are already prohibited, but the new plan would prevent visitors from setting foot on its bed without permission.
Arabana Aboriginal Corporation president Bronwyn Dodd said her people were proud to share Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, but urged visitors to respect their Ularaka (stories), traditions and culture.
“We have the responsibility of taking care of the lake and it, in turn, takes care of us,” he said.
“The preservation of this lake is also the preservation of our culture.”
National Parks and Wildlife Service program director Jason Irving said the South Australian government was committed to its partnership with the Arabana people.
“The request that visitors not enter a sacred cultural site is made in recognition and respect for Arab culture and to ensure the safety of visitors,” he said.
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is one of several culturally significant sites in South Africa that impose strict rules on visitor entry, including the Koonalda Caves in the Nullarbor, the Sacred Canyon in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges and the Ngaut Ngaut Conservation Park.
Comments on the proposed management plan are open to the public until July 19 via the South African Department of Environment and Water website.