The AONB Partnership aims for Dark Night Sky status

The AONB Partnership has a new and clear objective to apply for ‘dark night sky status’ by the end of 2016 (you may have spotted a clue in the cover of the newly published AONB Management Plan 2014-19).

Photo: B Mizon

The vast, dark skies twinkling with a myriad of the tiniest stars covers much of the AONB. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) states on its web site:

‘Once a source of wonder--and one half of the entire planet’s natural environment—the star-filled nights of just a few years ago are vanishing in a yellow haze. Human-produced light pollution not only mars our view of the stars; poor lighting threatens astronomy, disrupts ecosystems, affects human circadian rhythms, and wastes energy to the tune of $2.2 billion per year in the U.S. alone’.

In the UK, the British Astronomical Association's Campaign for Dark Skies is all about restoring our natural, starry skies by reducing inefficient lighting.

There are all manner of benefits from reducing the wasteful, ineffective and inefficient use of lighting. This initiative is certainly not about simply turning off the lights. Benefits include: 

• Improving security (not reducing it) through using better fittings that point light downwards, lighting the area to be protected rather than it straying outwards and upwards producing glare 
• Improving our health – there is much evidence that light at night can cause eyesight and various sleeping problems
• Improving the environment for wildlife – many insects, birds and mammals rely on darkness at night to function properly. Like ourselves, too much light at night disrupts our natural rhythms and behaviour
• Saving money….inefficient lighting is simply a needless waste of money
• Increased opportunities for education, enjoyment and well-being – many people, including children, have little chance of ever seeing and wondering at those star filled skies
• Conserving and enhancing part of our natural environment – as the IDA states above, with half our natural environment being made up of the sky above us, its conservation should be on a par with that at ground level!

The process for applying for dark sky status involves taking light readings, defining a ‘core area’ within the AONB with the darkest skies, a ‘buffer zone’ around that core area, developing and agreeing lighting policies with all those bodies responsible for lighting and gaining the support of AONB communities.

Look out for information on the AONB web site (www.ccwwdaonb.org.uk) in the coming months as the AONB team begins to plan the application for dark sky status.

It is vital that the application is accompanied by written support from parishes, community groups, schools, indeed any organisation that has an interest in helping to conserve the dark night skies of the AONB and bringing the many and various benefits that would follow. During the following months, the AONB team will be contacting everyone we possible can, to determine support for this initiative.

For further Information, see:

www.darksky.org
http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/index.html