Climbers may be banned from Ayers Rock

ALICE SPRINGS, Australia, July 8 (UPI) -- Tourists climbing Australia's Ayers Rock, a 1,135-foot-high sandstone monolith in the country's Northern Territory, should eventually be banned, planners say.

While the Aboriginal tribe that controls Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park discourages climbing the sacred rock, they don't enforce a ban. That may change, however, with the implementation of a draft 10-year management plan for the park, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

The plan suggests eventually stopping the climbing after the region's tourism industry is given a year to develop alternative activities.

"For visitor safety, cultural, and environmental reasons the director and the board (of the park) will work toward closure of the climb," the Telegraph quotes the plan as saying. The tribe also points out that climbers have an environmental impact with erosion and waste left behind.

Some 35 people have died while climbing Ayers Rock over the years. The newspaper said the park draws about 350,000 visitors per year.