Conserving the beauty of the night sky
Have you ever been anywhere where the sky is so dark at night you can see hundreds, even thousands, of stars, all twinkling away against the deep black background? Maybe you’ve seen the Milky Way like a strip of glittering points of light stretch across the darkness?In our modern world with floodlit sports fields and thousands of streetlights, there are fewer and fewer places where the sky is truly dark. We’re mostly used to the glow from cities in the dark and, while we can see stars, it’s nothing like light show that’s really up there, obscured by the light.But in some parts of the UK you can experience the wonder of a real dark sky. And the International Dark-Sky AssociationInternational Dark-Sky Association works to recognise and conserve these areas, through education and the use of lighting that prevents light pollution.There are currently 201 Dark Sky Places in the world including 115 parks.
Dark Sky Parks and other areas
Dark Sky Parks are ‘Publicly or privately-owned spaces protected for natural conservation, that implement good outdoor lighting and provide dark sky programmes for visitors’.There are 7 dark sky parks in the UK:
- Bodmin Moor Dark Sky Landscape
- Northumberland National Park and Kielder & Forest Park
- West Penwith
- Elan Valley Estate
- Galloway Forest Park
- Tomintoul and Glenlivet - Cairngorms
- OM Dark Sky Park and Observatory
Not only are the parks amazing for seeing the night sky in all its glory, but they’re also a great place to spot nocturnal wildlife. Depending on which park you visit, you’ll might spot moths, bats, owls, badgers and glow worms. Many of the parks will run night-time tours you can book on with guides that will help give you the best chance of spotting elusive animals.
International Dark Sky Sanctuaries
There’s one step up from a dark sky park, and that’s a dark sky sanctuary. These are defined as ‘the most remote (and often darkest) places in the world whose conservation state is most fragile’.There are only 17 of these worldwide, and only one in the UK which has only just been granted dark sky sanctuary status; Ynys Enlli, also known as Bardsey Island, off the coast of Wales. In fact, it’s also the first dark sky sanctuary in Europe.
It’s located off the Ll?n Peninsula the county of Gwynedd, and has an incredible wealth of wildlife, as well as evidence of Iron Age buildings. The island is managed by the non-profit Bardsey Island Trust, and the Barsey Bird and Field Observatory offers regular events, activities and educational resources on topics including ecology and heritage.
Read more about the Ynys Enlli Dark Sky Sanctuary
This Tiny Welsh Island Is Europe’s First Dark Sky Sanctuary - Smithsonian Magazine
Dark Skies: Welsh island is first sanctuary in Europe - BBC
Ynys Enlli off Welsh coast designated as a dark sky sanctuary
Why do we need Dark Sky Places?
Dark sky parks aren’t just important for conserving and understanding what our night skies should be like without human impact, it’s also important for wildlife. Light pollution can have a very negative effect on animals that have evolved over thousands of years to live at night, or use light sources at night to navigate.For example, predators like owls and foxes use the cover of darkness to stalk and hunt their prey; with more light, it’s harder to stay hidden, so easier for prey to elude them which means they might find less food, or have to adopt riskier behaviours to find the food they need. Animals like frogs croak at night to attract mates; if it’s too light, it will disrupt when they perceive it to be night time, which can in turn affect reproduction. And many birds species that migrate use the light of the sun and moon to navigate; artificial light sources like cities can cause them to steer off-course.So Dark Sky Places aren’t just refuges for wildlife; they’re also examples to remind us what we should be working towards. Humans will always need light, but we need to start designing our cities, towns and villages, and the lighting within them, to have less of an impact on the wider environment.
Bye-bye dark sky: is light pollution costing us more than just the night-time? - NHM London