UNDER THE MARTINBOROUGH STARS
If you are a resident of South Wairarapa, by now you have most likely heard of a dark sky reserve. If you haven’t, congratulations, you’re now living in one. If you are just visiting, maybe you’ll enjoy our magnificent views of the night sky while you’re here. There aren’t many reserves like ours throughout the world, and we’ve got world class wine too. A beverage possibly consumed in bulk by the ancients while drawing up the constellations we know today.
So what is a dark sky reserve and who says we’re in one? Well, the International Dark-Sky Association has officially designated South Wairarapa a reserve, one of several categories of dark sky places. “Reserves consist of a dark “core” zone surrounded by a populated periphery where policy controls are enacted to protect the darkness of the core”. Our core is Aorangi Forest Park. Conveniently, that population periphery is not completely surrounding the core. There’s a whole lot of ocean to the south and east of this core region, making it difficult for any would-be towns to get a foothold which might lead to light pollution. Thanks Ocean.
For the towns within the reserve area, does this mean you will need to turn your lights off at the stroke of 8pm curfew, 365 nights a year? Yes…………no. In fact, you won’t be asked to change exterior lighting on your home anytime soon, if ever. The controls on lighting agreed to by the councils involved, mainly apply to the exterior lighting of new construction and public infrastructure. In that case, that it is simply shielded and of a warmer colour. Much of the street lighting in south Wairarapa is already beyond the standards suggested by IDA. So as our towns grow, we won’t lose our awesome views of the night sky and we will waste less electricity when lighting is aimed down where it’s needed. Of course, if you want to help out by shielding the upper side of your exterior lighting, installing a timer, or changing to warmer ‘colour temperature’ bulbs or LEDs, that would be great.
The science on how light affects human and animal health is clear. Too much is not good. After natural darkness, artificial light towards the blue end of the spectrum can upset your circadian rhythms, prevent the release of melatonin (the sleepy time hormone) and disrupt the natural patterns of animal migration. I know, another complicated modern problem to worry about. But actually, this one is quite solvable. Especially for lowly populated areas like ours with dark sky reserve status. We already have the beauty of the night sky as a feature of our district, we just need to protect it. We already know how. Let’s improve our health, help the birds and bugs and save money while doing it. If you want to know more about how you can help, check out the Wairarapa Dark Sky Association or International Dark Sky Association websites.
Chris Murphy.
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