Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre: Travellers set to be banned from Australia’s largest lake and popular tourist destination after traditional owners’ request
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 unfolds in a spectacular kaleidoscope of colors as flooding rains from Queensland fill the immense saltwater basin, transforming the bleak desert landscape into an oasis of flowers and birds and attracting dozens of tourists.
But it is a sacred place for the Arabana people, who have lived in the region for millennia and are the native title holders of the lake.
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre (pictured) is a sacred site for the Arabana people, with all recreational access to the lake bottom banned under a proposed management plan
Under a proposed management plan, all recreational access to the lake bottom will be banned out of respect for Arabana culture.
Their tradition considers it dangerous to visit the lake without the guidance of cultural authorities.
Swimming, driving, boating and landing planes on the lake are already banned, but the new plan would prevent visitors from setting foot on the bottom without permission.
Bronwyn Dodd, chair of the Arabana Aboriginal Corporation, said her people were proud to share Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, but urged visitors to respect their Ularaka (stories), knowledge and culture.
“We have a responsibility to take care of the lake and the lake in turn takes care of us,” she said.
Bronwyn Dodd, chair of the Arabana Aboriginal Corporation, said her people were proud to share Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, but urged visitors to respect their Ularaka (stories), knowledge and culture.
“Preserving this lake is also preserving 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 for visitors not to enter a sacred cultural site is made in recognition and respect for Arabana culture and to ensure the safety of visitors,” he said.
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is one of a number of culturally significant sites in South Africa with strict regulations around visitor access, including the Koonalda Caves in the Nullarbor, the Sacred Canyon in Ikara-Flinders Ranges and the Ngaut Ngaut Conservation Park .
Feedback on the proposed management plan is available to the public through the SA Department for Environment and Water website until July 19.