Traditional owners of Uluru gather around the base of the climb after it was permanently closed on 26 October 2019

The traditional owners of the Uluru area the Anangu people, have always believed that climbing Uluru is a violation of Tjukurpa (the belief system that guides every aspect of their lives). However, tourists and visitors have been climbing Uluru since the 1930s. Over the years, 37 people have died climbing Uluru. The thousands of visitors caused erosion, and human waste and rubbish left on the top of Uluru washed down into waterways below. Walkers trampled on shrimp that live on the rock, almost sending them to extinction. The Uluru climb was permanently closed after a ceremony at Uluru on 26 October 2019, exactly 34 years after the government officially returned the lands to the Anangu.