Dark-sky preserve

A dark-sky preserve status enables high-quality astronomical observation in Paranal Observatory.

A dark-sky preserve (DSP) is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts artificial light pollution. The purpose of the dark-sky movement is generally to promote astronomy. However, astronomy is not the only objective of conserving a dark sky. A dark night sky is associated with many facets of history, philosophy, religion, societal development, poetry, song, mathematics, and science. Different terms have been used to describe the areas as national organizations have worked independently to create their programs. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) uses International Dark Sky Reserve (IDSR) and International Dark Sky Park (IDSP). A third designation, International Dark Sky Sanctuary, was introduced in 2015.

History

An International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) was founded in 1988 to reserve public or private land for an exquisite outlook of nocturnal territories and starry night skies. These reserves are specifically conserved for its scientific, natural, educational, cultural, heritage and public enjoyment.

The Mont Mégantic Observatory in Quebec is the first such site to be recognized (in 2007) as an International Dark Sky Reserve. IDA recognized Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah as the world's first International Dark Sky Park. In 2015, the IDA introduced the term "Dark Sky Sanctuary" and designated the Elqui Valley of northern Chile as the world's first International Dark Sky Sanctuary. The Gabriela Mistral Dark Sky Sanctuary is named after a Chilean poet.

It is generally understood that a dark-sky preserve, or dark-sky reserve, should be sufficiently dark to promote astronomy. However, this is not always the case. The lighting protocol for a dark-sky preserve is based on the sensitivity of wildlife to artificial light at night (ALAN).

Canada has established an extensive and more stringent standard for dark-sky preserves, that addresses lighting within the DSP and influences from skyglow from urban areas in the region. This was based on the work of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Dark Sky Places

The IDA's Dark Sky Places program offers five types of designations:

• International Dark Sky Communities – Communities are legally organised cities and towns that adopt quality outdoor lighting ordinances and undertake efforts to educate residents about the importance of dark skies.
• International Dark Sky Parks – Parks are publicly or privately owned spaces protected for natural conservation that implement good outdoor lighting and provide dark sky programs for visitors.
• International Dark Sky Reserves – Reserves consist of a dark "core" zone surrounded by a populated periphery where policy controls are enacted to protect the darkness of the core.
• International Dark Sky Sanctuaries – Sanctuaries are the most remote (and often darkest) places in the world whose conservation state is most fragile.
• Dark Sky Developments of Distinction – Developments of Distinction recognize subdivisions, master planned communities, and unincorporated neighborhoods and townships whose planning actively promotes a more natural night sky but does not qualify them for the International Dark Sky Community designation. (This designation was retired in 2020).

Further designations include "Dark Sky Nation", given to the Kaibab Indian Reservation, and "Parashant International Night Sky Province-Window to the Cosmos", given to Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.

Dark sky preserves, reserves and parks

As of January 2023, there were 201 certified Dark Sky Places globally: 38 Communities, 115 Parks, 20 Reserves, 16 Sanctuaries, 6 Developments of Distinction and 6 Urban Night Sky Places.

Country	Name	Location	Area (in ha)	Bortle scale	Status	Notes
Australia	The Jump-Up, Australian Age of Dinosaurs	Winton, Queensland	1,400	1–2	Dark Sky Sanctuary	Designated on Apr. 27, 2019
Australia	Warrumbungle National Park	New South Wales	23,312		Dark Sky Park	Designated on Jul. 4, 2016
Australia	River Murray DSR	South Australia	320,000		Dark Sky Reserve	Designated October 2019 (gold tier)
Canada	Beaver Hills	Alberta	29,300	4.5	Dark Sky Preserve	Designated on Sep. 3, 2006
Canada	Cypress Hills	Alberta / Saskatchewan	39,600	2		Designated on Sep. 28, 2004
Canada	Jasper National Park	Alberta	1,122,800	1–2	Dark Sky Preserve	Designated on Mar. 11, 2011
Canada	Wood Buffalo National Park	Alberta / NWT	4,480,700	1–2	UNESCO World Heritage Dark Sky Preserve	Designated on June 28, 2013
Canada	Cattle Point	Oak Bay, British Columbia	5		Urban Star Park	Designated March 29, 2013
Canada	McDonald Park	British Columbia	5	2–3	Dark Sky Preserve	Designated in 2003
Canada	Fundy National Park	New Brunswick	20,700	2	Dark Sky Preserve	Designated on Oct. 31, 2011
Canada	Irving Nature Park Urban Star Park	Saint John, New Brunswick	243	?	Urban Star Park	Designated on Jul. 1, 2011; First RASC-designated Urban Star Park
Canada	Kouchibouguac National Park	New Brunswick	23,920	2		Designated on Jun. 6, 2009
Canada	Mount Carleton Provincial Park	New Brunswick	17,427	2		Designated on Jul. 18, 2009
Canada	Kejimkujik National Park	Nova Scotia	40,400	2		Designated on Aug. 7, 2010
Canada	Bluewater Outdoor Education Centre	Ontario	129	2		Designated on Nov. 3, 2012 by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
Canada	Bruce Peninsula Fathom Five National Marine Park	Ontario	16,700	2–3		Designated on Mar. 29, 2009
Canada	Gordon's Park	Ontario	43.7	2–3		Designated on Aug. 15, 2009; designation is only for the Park though Manitoulin Island (276,611 ha) follows dark-sky practices
Canada	Lake Superior Provincial Park	Ontario	155,600	1-2		Designated in July 2018
Canada	Killarney Provincial Park	Ontario	64,500	1-2		Designated in May 2018
Canada	North Frontenac Township	Ontario	116,000	1–2		Designated on August 3, 2013, first Municipality in Canada to achieve Dark Sky Preserve Status.
Canada	Point Pelee National Park	Ontario	2,000	3–4		Designated in 2006
Canada	Torrance Barrens	Ontario	1,906	3		Designated in 1999; first Canadian dark sky preserve
Canada	Mont Mégantic Observatory	Quebec	527,500	2–3	Dark Sky Reserve	Designated Sept. 2007; first IDA International Dark-Sky Reserve
Canada	Grasslands National Park	Saskatchewan	92,100	1		Designated on Oct. 2, 2009
Chile	Gabriela Mistral	Elqui Valley	36,400		Dark Sky Sanctuary	Designated in 2015
Czech Republic  Slovakia	Beskydy Dark-Sky Park	Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic Čadca District, Slovakia	30,800	3–4		Designated on Mar. 4, 2013; The second world's bilateral dark-sky park
Czech Republic	Manětín Dark-Sky Park	Plzeň Region	34,600	3–5		Designated on Sep. 15, 2014
Czech Republic  Poland	Izera Dark-Sky Park	Liberec Region, Czech Republic Lower Silesia, Poland	7,500	3–4		Designated on Nov. 4, 2009; the first European dark-sky park and the first world's bilateral dark-sky park
France	Pic du Midi de Bigorre	Hautes-Pyrénées	311,200	2–4	Dark Sky Reserve	Designated an IDA International Dark Sky Reserve in December 2013; First IDA International Dark Sky Reserve in Europe.
France	Alpes Azur Mercantour	Beuil	225,000		Dark Sky Reserve	Designated in 2019.
France	Cévennes National Park	Cévennes	360,000		Dark Sky Reserve	Designated in 2018.
France	Regional Natural Park of Millevaches in Limousin	Millevaches	335,000		Dark Sky Reserve	Designated in 2021.
Germany	Rhön Biosphere Reserve	Rhön Mountains	172,000		Dark Sky Reserve	Designated in 2014.
Germany	Westhavelland Nature Park	Brandenburg	152,900			Designated an IDA International Dark Sky Reserve on Feb. 12, 2014
Hungary	Hortobágy Starry Sky Park	Various counties	10,000	3		Designated on Jan. 31, 2011; IDA's third international dark-sky park (Silver tier)
Hungary	Zselic National Landscape Protection Area	Somogy County / Baranya County	9,042	3–4		Designated on Nov. 16, 2009
India	Indian Astronomical Observatory	Hanle in Ladakh	70,000			Designated in September 2022.
Ireland	Kerry International Dark-Sky Reserve	Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry	70,000	1–3	Dark Sky Reserve	Designated an IDA International Dark Sky Reserve on 27 January 2014
Israel	Makhtesh Ramon	Southern District	113.2	2–3	Dark Sky Park	Designated September 14, 2017
South Korea	Yeongyang Firefly Eco Park	North Gyeongsang Province, Yeongyang County, Subimyeon	390			Designated on Nov. 1, 2015
Namibia	NamibRand Nature Reserve	Hardap Region	202,200		Dark Sky Reserve	Designated in 2012.
The Netherlands	Boschplaat	Terschelling, Friesland	2,400	3	Dark Sky Park	Designated on Oct. 7, 2016
The Netherlands	Lauwersmeer	Groningen, Friesland	5,000	?	Dark Sky Park	Designated on Jun. 26, 2015
New Zealand	Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park	Tekapo	430,000	2	Dark Sky Reserve	Designated on 9 June 2012
New Zealand	Aotea / Great Barrier Island	Great Barrier Island	28,500		Dark Sky Sanctuary	Designated in 2017
New Zealand	Stewart Island/Rakiura	Stewart Island	174,600		Dark Sky Sanctuary	Designated in 2019
New Zealand	Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve	Wairarapa Valley	366,500		Dark Sky Reserve	Designated in 2013
Niue	Niue	Niue	25,900		Dark Sky Sanctuary	Designated in 2020. First whole country to become an International Dark Sky Place.
Poland	Bieszczady Starry-Sky Park	Subcarpathia	113,846	2–3		Designated on Mar. 8, 2013
Poland  Slovakia  Ukraine	East Carpathian Dark-Sky Tripark	Bieszczady Starry-Sky Park (Poland) Poloniny Dark-Sky Park (Slovakia) Transcarpathian Dark-Sky Park (Ukraine)	208,667	2–3		Designated on Sep. 9, 2016; first world's trilateral dark-sky park
Slovakia	Poloniny Dark-Sky Park	Poloniny National Park	48,519	2–3		Designated on Dec. 3, 2010
Slovakia	Veľká Fatra Dark-Sky Park	Veľká Fatra National Park (part of)	325	3–4		Designated on Jun. 12, 2015
South Africa	!Ae!Hai Kalahari Heritage Park	Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park	95,000		Dark Sky Sanctuary	Designated in 2019
Ukraine	Transcarpathian Dark-Sky Park	Uzhansky National Nature Park	46,302	2		Designated on Jun. 10, 2016
United Kingdom	Exmoor National Park	Devon / Somerset, England	18,100	3	Dark Sky Reserve	Designated 10 October 2011
United Kingdom	Galloway Forest Park	Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland	75,000	3		Designated on Nov. 16, 2009
United Kingdom	Sark	Guernsey	545	3		Designated on Jan. 31, 2011; IDA's first international dark-sky island (Silver tier)
United Kingdom	Isle of Coll	Inner Hebrides, Scotland	7,700	1		Designated on Dec. 9, 2013
United Kingdom	Northumberland National Park	Northumberland, England	103,000	3	Dark Sky Park	Designated on Dec. 9, 2013
United Kingdom	Brecon Beacons	Wales	134,700	4	Dark Sky Reserve	Designated 19 February 2013
United Kingdom	Mata ki te Rangi (Eyes To the Sky)	Pitcairn Islands	4,325	1	Dark Sky Sanctuary	Designated 18 March 2019
United Kingdom	Snowdonia National Park	Wales	213,200		Dark Sky Reserve	Designated 2015
United Kingdom	Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli)	Wales	179	2	Dark Sky Sanctuary	Designated 22 February 2023
United States	Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument	Arizona	424,200		Dark Sky Park	Designated 2014
United States	Death Valley National Park	California	1,374,300		Dark Sky Park	Designated 2013
United States	Joshua Tree National Park	California	319,600		Dark Sky Park	Designated July 26, 2017
United States	Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park	Colorado	12,440		Dark Sky Park	Designated 2015
United States	Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve	Colorado	60,310	2	Dark Sky Park	Designated 2019
United States	Hovenweep National Monument	Colorado / Utah	310	2	Dark Sky Park	Designated 2014
United States	Big Cypress National Preserve	Florida	290,000	3	Dark Sky Park	Designated 2016
United States	Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park	Florida	21,853	3	Dark Sky Park	Designated 2016
United States	Stephen C. Foster State Park	Georgia	32	2	Dark Sky Park	Designated November 2016
United States	Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve	Idaho	366,742	1	Dark Sky Reserve	Designated December 2017
United States	Potawatomi Wildlife Park	Indiana	116	4.5		Designated in 2003
United States	Lake Hudson State Recreation Area	Michigan	890	3	Dark Sky Preserve	Designated in 1993
United States	Negwegon State Park	Michigan	1,513		Dark Sky Preserve	Designated in 2016
United States	Port Crescent State Park	Michigan	2,400	3	Dark Sky Preserve	Designated in 2012
United States	Rockport State Recreation Area	Michigan	4,800		Dark Sky Preserve	Designated in 2016
United States	Thompson's Harbor State Park	Michigan	2,068	2	Dark Sky Preserve	Designated in 2016
United States	Wilderness State Park	Michigan	4,254	2	Dark Sky Preserve	Designated in 2012
United States	The Headlands	Michigan	220	3–5	Dark Sky Park	Designated in 2011
United States	Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness	Minnesota	440,000	1	Dark Sky Sanctuary	Designated in 2020
United States	Great Basin National Park	Nevada	31,230	1	Dark Sky Park	Designated in 2016
United States	Chaco Culture National Historical Park	New Mexico	13,759	2–3	Dark Sky Park	Designated on Aug. 28, 2013
United States	Clayton Lake	New Mexico	190			Designated June 29, 2010
United States	Observatory Park	Ohio	450	?		Designated on Aug. 20, 2011
United States	Cherry Springs State Park	Pennsylvania	430	2	Dark Sky Park	Designated as a State DSP in 2000 by the Pennsylvania DCNR; Designated as an International DSP on June 11, 2007, by the IDA.
United States	Big Bend National Park	Texas	324,219		Dark Sky Park	Designated February 11, 2012
United States	Copper Breaks State Park	Texas	770		Dark Sky Park	Designated Aug. 6, 2014
United States	Dripping Springs	Texas	30,300		Dark-sky Community	Designated February 11, 2014
United States	Enchanted Rock	Texas	665		Dark Sky Park	Designated Aug. 6, 2014
United States	UBarU Camp & Retreat Center	Texas	57.5	2–3	Dark Sky Park	Designated in 2015; only DSP in the USA on private land
United States	Canyonlands National Park	Utah	136,500		Dark Sky Park	Designated 2015
United States	Capitol Reef National Park	Utah	98,000		Dark Sky Park	Designated 2015
United States	Natural Bridges National Monument	Utah	3,090	2	Dark Sky Park	Designated in 2007; first international dark-sky park
United States	Goldendale Observatory	Washington	2		Dark Sky Park	Designated June 29, 2010
United States	Newport State Park	Wisconsin	960			Designated in 2017

Protected zones

Around observatories

Other

Some regions, like the following, are protected without any reference to an observatory or a park.

• Regions of Coquimbo, Atacama, and Antofagasta in northern Chile
• The island of La Palma of the Canary Islands
• The Big Island of Hawaii
• Florida beach communities restrict lighting on beaches, to preserve hatchling Sea Turtles.

By country

Canada

In the Canadian program, lighting within the area must be strictly controlled to minimize the impact of artificial lighting on wildlife. These guidelines are more stringent than in other countries that lack the extensive wilderness areas that still exist in Canada. The management of a Canadian DSP extends their outreach programs from the public that visit the site to include the promotion of better lighting policies in surrounding urban areas. Currently, dark-sky preserves have more control over internal and external lighting than other programs.

With the increase in regional light pollution, some observatories have actively worked with cities in their region to establish protection zones where there is controlled light pollution. These areas may not yet have been declared dark-sky preserves.

Although dark-sky preserve designations are generally sought by astronomers, it is clear that preserving natural darkness has positive effects on the health of nocturnal wildlife within the parks. For example, the nocturnal black-footed ferret was reintroduced to the Grasslands National Park dark-sky preserve and the success of the reintroduction is enhanced by the pristine natural darkness maintained within the park by the DSP agreement.

See also

• Noctcaelador
• Scotobiology
• United States National Radio Quiet Zone

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Dark Sky Parks in the United States.

• Izera Dark-Sky Park
• Poloniny Dark-Sky Park
• Torrance Barrens Dark-Sky Preserve. Essay by Michael Silver. Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
• Veľká Fatra Dark-Sky Park
• North Frontenac Dark Sky Preserve