Some of Australia’s most iconic national parks, including Kakadu and Uluru, are set to close as the coronavirus lockdowns become more sweeping.
The National Parks set to close include the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra, Booderee National Park ion Jervis Bay, as well as Uluru and Kakadu national parks. The parks will begin closing immediately to non-essential personnel and travellers, with an initial timeframe levelled of two weeks.
Essential staff will remain to continue the upkeep of the parks. All existing booking for the parks will be refunded to those who have made plans to travel to the parks, and it comes just two weeks after a 25 per cent discount was offered by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service as an incentive to visit parks around bush fire impacted communities in New South Wales.
This announcement was made by Parks Australia hours before the Government announced more widespread business closures and stricter travelling rules, effectively strongly requesting people to stay within their homes, and only leave for essential purposes.
We are expecting further States and Territories to begin closing their parks and camping areas, however, at this stage, most remain open with strong suggestion to maintain social distancing and good personal hygiene. That includes things like taking your own portable toilet, plenty of soap and hand sanitiser and avoiding using communal amenities.
As this is a developing story, we will continue to update it as more information comes to hand.
