Dark-sky preserve
A dark-sky preserve, also known as a dark sky reserve, is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts artificial light pollution. The purpose of a dark sky preserve is generally to promote astronomy.
Because different national organizations have worked independently to create their programs, different terms have been used to describe the areas. This has led to confusion between the terms reserve, preserve, and park. The International Dark-Sky Association chooses reserve to avoid confusion with park, when using the initialisms "IDSR" and "IDSP". A third designation, International Dark Sky Sanctuary, was introduced in 2015.
In 1993, Michigan became the first state in the United States to designate a tract of land as a "Dark Sky Preserve" at the Lake Hudson State Recreation Area. In 1999, the first permanent preserve was established at Torrance Barrens in the Muskoka region of southern Ontario.
The IDA recognizes and accredits dark sky areas worldwide, in three categories. The Mont Mégantic Observatory in Quebec is the first such site to be recognized 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.
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 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.
Dark sky preserves, reserves and parks
| Country | Name | Location | Area | Bortle scale | Status | Notes |
| The Jump-Up, Australian Age of Dinosaurs | Winton, Queensland | 1,400 | 1–2 | Sanctuary | Designated on Apr. 27, 2019 | |
| Warrumbungle National Park | New South Wales | 23,312 | Dark Sky Park | Designated on Jul. 4, 2016 | ||
| River Murray DSR | South Australia | 320,000 | Dark Sky Reserve | Designated October 2019 | ||
| Beaver Hills | Alberta | 29,300 | 4.5 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated on Sep. 3, 2006 | |
| Cypress Hills | Alberta / Saskatchewan | 39,600 | 2 | Designated on Sep. 28, 2004 | ||
| Jasper National Park | Alberta | 1,122,800 | 1–2 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated on Mar. 11, 2011 | |
| Wood Buffalo National Park | Alberta / NWT | 4,480,700 | 1–2 | UNESCO World Heritage Dark Sky Preserve | Designated on June 28, 2013 | |
| Cattle Point | Oak Bay, British Columbia | 5 | Urban Star Park | Designated March 29, 2013 | ||
| McDonald Park | British Columbia | 5 | 2–3 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated in 2003 | |
| Fundy National Park | New Brunswick | 20,700 | 2 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated on Oct. 31, 2011 | |
| 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 | |
| Kouchibouguac National Park | New Brunswick | 23,920 | 2 | Designated on Jun. 6, 2009 | ||
| Mount Carleton Provincial Park | New Brunswick | 17,427 | 2 | Designated on Jul. 18, 2009 | ||
| Kejimkujik National Park | Nova Scotia | 40,400 | 2 | Designated on Aug. 7, 2010 | ||
| Bluewater Outdoor Education Centre | Ontario | 129 | 2 | Designated on Nov. 3, 2012 by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada | ||
| Bruce Peninsula Fathom Five National Marine Park | Ontario | 16,700 | 2–3 | Designated on Mar. 29, 2009 | ||
| Gordon's Park | Ontario | 43.7 | 2–3 | Designated on Aug. 15, 2009; designation is only for the Park though Manitoulin Island follows dark-sky practices | ||
| Lake Superior Provincial Park | Ontario | 155,600 | 1-2 | Designated in July 2018 | ||
| Killarney Provincial Park | Ontario | 64,500 | 1-2 | Designated in May 2018 | ||
| North Frontenac Township | Ontario | 116,000 | 1–2 | Designated on June 28, 2013 | ||
| Point Pelee National Park | Ontario | 2,000 | 3–4 | Designated in 2006 | ||
| Torrance Barrens | Ontario | 1906 | 3 | Designated in 1999; first Canadian dark sky preserve | ||
| Mont Mégantic Observatory | Quebec | 527,500 | 2–3 | Reserve | Designated Sept. 2007; first IDA International Dark-Sky Reserve | |
| Grasslands National Park | Saskatchewan | 92,100 | 1 | Designated on Oct. 2, 2009 | ||
| Beskydy Dark-Sky Park | Moravian-Silesian Region, Czechia Čadca District, Slovakia | 30,800 | 3–4 | Designated on Mar. 4, 2013; The second world's bilateral dark-sky park | ||
| Manětín Dark-Sky Park | Plzeň Region | 34,600 | 3–5 | Designated on Sep. 15, 2014 | ||
| Izera Dark-Sky Park | Liberec Region, Czechia 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 | ||
| Westhavelland Nature Park | Brandenburg | Designated an IDA International Dark Sky Reserve on Feb. 12, 2014 | ||||
| Pic du Midi de Bigorre | Hautes-Pyrénées | 311,200 | 2–4 | Reserve | Designated an IDA International Dark Sky Reserve in December 2013; First IDA International Dark Sky Reserve in Europe. | |
| Hortobágy Starry Sky Park | Various counties | 10,000 | ? | Designated on Jan. 31, 2011; IDA's third international dark-sky park | ||
| Zselic National Landscape Protection Area | Somogy County / Baranya County | 9,042 | 3–4 | Designated on Nov. 16, 2009 | ||
| Kerry International Dark-Sky Reserve | Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry | 70,000 | 1–3 | Reserve | Designated an IDA International Dark Sky Reserve on Jan. 27, 2014 | |
| Makhtesh Ramon | Southern District | 113.2 | 2–3 | Dark Sky Park | Designated September 14, 2017 | |
| Yeongyang Firefly Eco Park | North Gyeongsang Province, Yeongyang County, Subimyeon | 390 | Designated on Nov. 1, 2015 | |||
| NamibRand Nature Reserve | Hardap Region | Reserve | Designated in 2012. | |||
| Boschplaat | Terschelling, Friesland | 2,400 | ? | Dark Sky Park | Designated on Oct. 7, 2016 | |
| Lauwersmeer | Groningen, Friesland | 5,000 | ? | Dark Sky Park | Designated on Jun. 26, 2015 | |
| Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park | Tekapo | 430,000 | 2 | Reserve | Designated on 9 June 2012 | |
| Bieszczady Starry-Sky Park | Subcarpathia | 113,846.5 | 2–3 | Designated on Mar. 8, 2013 | ||
| East Carpathian Dark-Sky Tripark | Bieszczady Starry-Sky Park Poloniny Dark-Sky Park Transcarpathian Dark-Sky Park | 208,667 | 2–3 | Designated on Sep. 9, 2016; first world's trilateral dark-sky park | ||
| Poloniny Dark-Sky Park | Poloniny National Park | 48,519 | 2–3 | Designated on Dec. 3, 2010 | ||
| Veľká Fatra Dark-Sky Park | Veľká Fatra National Park | 325 | 3–4 | Designated on Jun. 12, 2015 | ||
| Transcarpathian Dark-Sky Park | Uzhansky National Nature Park | 46,302 | 2 | Designated on Jun. 10, 2016 | ||
| Exmoor National Park | Devon / Somerset, England | Reserve | Designated 10 October 2011 | |||
| Galloway Forest Park | Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland | 75,000 | 3 | Designated on Nov. 16, 2009 | ||
| Sark | Guernsey | 545 | 3 | Designated on Jan. 31, 2011; IDA's first international dark-sky island | ||
| Isle of Coll | Inner Hebrides, Scotland | Designated on Dec. 9, 2013 | ||||
| Northumberland National Park | Northumberland, England | 103,000 | Dark Sky Park | Designated on Dec. 9, 2013 | ||
| Brecon Beacons | Wales | Reserve | Designated 19 February 2013 | |||
| Mata ki te Rangi | Pitcairn Islands | 4325 | 1 | Sanctuary | Designated 18 March 2019 | |
| Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument | Arizona | 4,242 km2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated 2014 | ||
| Death Valley National Park | California | 13,743 km2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated 2013 | ||
| Joshua Tree National Park | California | 3,199.59 km2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated July 26, 2017 | ||
| Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park | Colorado | 124.4 km2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated 2015 | ||
| Hovenweep National Monument | Colorado / Utah | 3.1 km2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated 2014 | ||
| Big Cypress National Preserve | Florida | 2,916 km2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated 2017 | ||
| Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park | Florida | ?? km2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated 2016 | ||
| Stephen C. Foster State Park | Georgia | 32 | Dark Sky Park | Designated November 2016 | ||
| Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve | Idaho | 366,742 | 1 | Dark Sky Reserve | Designated December 2017 | |
| Potawatomi Wildlife Park | Indiana | 116 | 4.5 | Designated in 2003 | ||
| Lake Hudson State Recreation Area | Michigan | 890 | 3 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated in 1993 | |
| Negwegon State Park | Michigan | 1,513 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated in 2016 | ||
| Port Crescent State Park | Michigan | 2.4 km2 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated in 2012 | ||
| Rockport State Recreation Area | Michigan | 17.15 km2 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated in 2016 | ||
| Thompson's Harbor State Park | Michigan | 20.68 km2 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated in 2016 | ||
| Wilderness State Park | Michigan | 4,254 | Dark Sky Preserve | Designated in 2012 | ||
| The Headlands | Michigan | 220 | 3–5 | Dark Sky Park | Designated in 2011 | |
| Chaco Culture National Historical Park | New Mexico | 13759 km2 | 2–3 | Dark Sky Park | Designated on Aug. 28, 2013 | |
| Clayton Lake | New Mexico | 69 | Designated June 29, 2010 | |||
| Observatory Park | Ohio | 418.5 | ? | Designated on Aug. 20, 2011 | ||
| Cherry Springs State Park | Pennsylvania | 20 | 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. | |
| Big Bend National Park | Texas | 324,219 ac | Dark Sky Park | Designated February 11, 2012 | ||
| Copper Breaks State Park | Texas | 770 | Dark Sky Park | Designated Aug. 6, 2014 | ||
| Dripping Springs | Texas | Dark-sky Community | Designated February 11, 2014 | |||
| Enchanted Rock | Texas | 665 | Dark Sky Park | Designated Aug. 6, 2014 | ||
| Texas | 57.5 | 2–3 | Dark Sky Park | Designated in 2015; only DSP in the USA on private land; open to the public | ||
| Canyonlands National Park | Utah | 1365 km2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated 2015 | ||
| Capitol Reef National Park | Utah | 980 km2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated 2015 | ||
| Natural Bridges National Monument | Utah | 3090 | 2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated in 2007; first international dark-sky park | |
| Goldendale Observatory | Washington | 2 | Dark Sky Park | Designated June 29, 2010 | ||
| Newport State Park | Wisconsin | 960 | Designated in 2017 |
Protected zones
Around observatories
| Name | Country | Radius |
| Mount John University Observatory | New Zealand | 37 |
| Kitt Peak | US | 56 |
| Mont Mégantic Observatory | Canada | 50 |
| Palomar Observatory | US | 48 |
| Mount Hopkins | US | 40 |
| Monte Ekar Observatory | Italy | 30 |
| Asiago Astrophysical Observatory | Italy | 30 |
| Mount Laguna | US | 24 |
| Observatoire de Haute-Provence | France | 15 |
| Ondřejov Observatory | Czech Republic | 10 |
| Kleť | Czech Republic | 10 |
| Dominion Astrophysical Observatory | Canada | 5 |
| McDonald Observatory | US | 92 |
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.