Page 8 - BPW-UK - E-news - Edition 128 - Februaey-March 2025

Goal 18: Sky Quality and Access to Starlight

This is a joint project by BPW Spain and The Starlight Foundation. In 2021, they
signed an agreement in the Parliament of the Canary Islands to cooperate as guar-
antors.

This SDG18 addresses the urgent need to protect dark and clean skies for present
and future generations.

The main threats are:

Artificial night light (ALAN)

The emission of radio wavelengths
The contrails of the satellites of the low Earth orbit (LEO), to which the space de-
bris is added ”

The danger to biodiversity and human health as the “socioeconomic engine of lo-
cal communities through Astro tourism ”.

Read more HERE

Source:

In response to questions, Carolyn Savage - Executive Secretary of BPWI explained
the importance of this SDG going forward and shared that Aotearoa, New Zealand,
has a protected 'dark sky reserve'.

“Dark Sky Reserves are important for a few reasons:

They protect the night sky from light pollution. This lets us see stars, planets, and
galaxies in greater clarity – or when we might otherwise not see them at all.
This is important for astronomy and education, but also for our cultural and
natural heritages. Stars and the night sky have played an important part in
many cultures for millennia
They help the health of wildlife. Many animals rely on natural patterns of light
and dark to navigate and to live their lives. Light pollution can disrupt this

Dark Sky Reserves help re-establish a natural state
They offer people a unique stargazing and tourism experience. This contributes to
sustainable tourism, and helps build better local economies”

Colleen Babiuk-Ilkiw from Edmonton, Alberta,added:
“Canada has 26 dark sky preserves. I attended one in Jasper National Park, Alberta,
a couple of years ago. Besides unique stargazing with the naked eye and powerful
telescopes from the tops of mountains, there were a number of guest lecturers in
the town, including former astronauts and a symphony performance under the stars.
Unfortunately this area experienced a devastating fire last year and is now in the
process of re-building”. It is yet another reminder of the fine balance of nature.

…/...