Page 5 - HOH

A9
LOCAL Friday 28 april 2023

International Dark-Sky Association-Aruba asks to keep an eye out

for light contamination at Sero Colorado

(Oranjestad)—The Inter- Sero Colorado and which tion of eco-tourism and
national Dark-Sky Associ- will surely bring economic responsible developments
ation-Aruba recently pub- benefits to Aruba, we can- that imbues value on the
lished a post on their Face- not forget the potential natural resources of the is-
book page, reflecting on impact that this may have land and that preserves the
how the construction work on the surrounding eco- beauty for future genera-
for Secrets Baby Beach system and in terms of light tions.
Resorts in Sero Colorado is contamination.
affecting the fragile eco- In the picture you may see
system in the area and the The organization has indi- a map of light contami-
problem of light contami- cated that during the last nation that illustrates the
nation. decade, the closure of the location of the hotel and
refinery of San Nicolas has the possible increase of
The International Dark-Sky allowed flora and fauna to light contamination that
Association is an interna- recovery and that the re- can affect nearby natural
tional organization whose duction of light contamina- habitats.q
goal is to celebrate and tion has made the night sky
protect the night sky filled much brighter. However,
with starts, which has been they said that with the con-
very important and mean- struction of the new hotel,
ingful for mankind around there exists a risk that can
the world for eons. They revert this process if we do
purpose is to protect the not consider the possibility
night from light contamina- of installing appropriate il-
tion. lumination.
“By proportioning leader-
ship, tools and resources For this reason, the Aruban-
necessary for everyone, based branch has been
legislators and the industry petition to the government
in general can reduce light of Aruba asking them to
contamination and pro- consider some important
mote responsible use of ex- points for the conservation
ternal light that is beautiful, and the protection of the
healthy and functional. We eco-system.
are bringing the theme of
light contamination around They are asking to encour-
the world, with the goal to age the use of appropriate
create access to informa- illumination for the project,
tion on the destructive im- which can minimize the
pact of excessive lighting brightness of illumination.
and the benefits of respon- There are also asking to im-
sible illumination,” the or- plement illumination man-
ganization has stated. dates that can conserve
the night sky, protect noc-
The International Dark- turnal wild life (like turtles)
Sky Association on Aruba and preserve the unique
pointed out in their post character of the island.
that despite the construc-
tion of the Secret Baby Besides these two point,
Beach Resort, which is cur- they organization is also
rently under construction in petitioning for the promo-