Conservation and Enhancement of Dark Skies
This article has been written for us by Robin Sandham. He is a planning officer for Conwy County Borough Council and co-author of the guidance as part of the Dark Sky Working Group.
Artificial light at night often wastes money, energy and carbon whilst causing skyglow, nuisance, habitat fragmentation and degradation as well as interfering with natural phenology; emergence, abundance and predation which can lead to population collapse. Half of the world’s species are classed as being nocturnal whilst all species, including humans, have evolved around the circadian rhythm.
New “Good Practice Guidance on Planning for the Conservation and Enhancement of Dark Skies”, available online, will help ensure people’s well-being, while helping both stargazers and wildlife thrive in Wales for generations to come. The guidance was issued a year ago but has already been awarded two Landscape Institute awards in November. Endorsed by the CEO and Executive Director of DarkSky International, and Welsh Government, it is aimed to assist everyone involved in planning decisions and habitat protection – such as developers, local authorities, ecologists and community groups – to focus on the right light at the right time in the right place to ensure continued spectacular star-gazing opportunities, safeguarding heritage and protection of habitat and light-sensitive species.
From Bannau Brycheiniog and Gower to Eryri, Wales boasts internationally recognised Dark Sky Reserves and is already renowned for having the highest percentage of protected dark skies in the world. The key is to keep it that way and restore areas to complete darkness, especially around protected sites, species and sensitive habitat networks such as rivers, shoreline, woodland and grassland. The guidance can be used by everyone but especially ecologists and planners to ensure new development does not result in excessive lighting, and also anyone involved in retrofitting, or property owners looking to install dark sky-friendly lighting.
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