Focusing on the Prevention and Control of Light Pollution and Dark Sky Protection | Representatives of CBCGDF Participated in 2019 New Zealand Starlight Conference
2019/10/30 10:35:00 本站

From October 20th to 23rd local time, the "2019 New Zealand Starlight Conference” was held in Tekapo Town, South Island of New Zealand. The main theme of the conference is to develop the concept of New Zealand as the World’s First Dark Sky Nation. At the same time, many astronomical observation groups, organizations, enthusiasts, experts and scholars from different backgrounds gathered around the world to discuss issues related to the protection of the dark sky and the prevention and control of light pollution, as well as in-depth exchanges on topics including the impact of artificial light on star observation, ecological environment and human health, lighting technology and astronomical tourism. At this conference, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) sent two youth representatives to attend and made important speeches at the meeting on the afternoon of Oct 22nd local time.

 

Liu Hao, the youth representative of “China Dark and Starry Sky Conservation Area ? Geyuan (CCAfa)”, made a speech on the theme of “Protecting the Dark Sky, Building a Beautiful China”. He introduced China’s efforts in light pollution control, the establishment of China Dark and Starry Sky Conservation Area ? Geyuan and the future construction and development of Geyuan’s protected area to the experts and scholars attending the conference. He also showed that the CBCGDF and local volunteers were engaged in efforts and contributions made in the protection of starry sky in China. Geyuan Town (in Hengfeng County, Jiangxi Province), with a total population of 45,000, an average altitude of about 300 meters, and the highest peak wave of 1,366 meters. It is a thousand-year-old town with sound historical features and beautiful natural scenery. The town is covered with terraces, ancient roads, ancient trees, ancient bridges, pebble walkways, and other natural landscapes. Brassica flowers blossom in March, azaleas flowers blossom in April and Tung flowers blossom in May, the flowers look like beautiful snowflakes. There are dense forests everywhere, fresh air, few streetlights, and few landscape lights. The night sky in Geyuan has a wonderful view. It is an excellent place to observe the stars. It is also a popular place to enjoy the sunrise, sunset, clouds above the sea and charming fog. Geyuan town has become the fifth “China Dark and Starry Sky Conservation Area” established by the CBCGDF after the field investigation by CBCGDF’s starry sky working committee and relevant experts. When talking about the future construction and development of Geyuan conservation area, Liu Hao shared a series of planning plans, including making concerted efforts to promote China’s star tourism and astronomical science popularization base, and planning to build “dark sky” into an ecological highlight and international card for the construction of ecological civilization and sustainable green development in Jiangxi Province, so as to give full play to the advantages, functions and values of Geyuan town’s natural ecology and dark starry sky. Liu Hao said that as the strong candidate of the “first dark sky nation” in the world, New Zealand has a very cutting-edge development in light pollution prevention, dark sky protection, and starry sky tourism, and China still has many areas to learn and exchange from in this regard.

 

Lei Ping, the youth representative of the CBCGDF, gave a speech on the theme of “The Exploration of the Way of Sky Protection”. From three aspects of insect protection and the dark sky, artificial light pollution and the CBCGDF’s dark sky conservation area, she introduced and shared the experience of dark sky protection for foreign experts and scholars from different perspectives, as well as CBCGDF’s “China Dark and Starry Sky Conservation Area ? Ngari” and “China Dark and Starry Sky Conservation Area ? Nagqu”. As an effective way of biodiversity protection, the establishment of dark sky conservation areas can not only control light pollution but also protect photophobic organisms and human health; and by advocating the concept of energy conservation, people can reduce the excessive use of lighting energy and achieve green development. Besides, dark sky conservation area can also be used as an astronomy science and education base for popular science among young people, and as a demonstration scenic spot for eco-tourism to promote the healthy development of local science and education and tourism. During her speech, Lei Ping mainly introduced CBCGDF’s dark sky conservation area in Ngari and Nagqu. Both of the above two conservation areas have been officially included in the world dark sky protected areas list by the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN), which not only fills in the blank of China’s dark sky protected areas in the international list, but also recognizes and affirms China’s dark sky protection work.

 

In this era of rapid development of science and technology, people are accustomed to the bright lights, not to make a fuss about the dazzling taillights and cannot live without those intelligent devices; and at the same time, they gradually neglect that the dark sky in the city is now not as dark as old-days. Some people may ask, why do we protect the dark sky? In the past hundred years, due to the excessive use of artificial lighting facilities, light pollution has been spreading, making it impossible for nearly two-thirds of the world’s cities to observe the galaxy and major constellations. This not only seriously affects our dream of “looking up to the starry sky”, but also directly restricts the development of astronomy and other important disciplines. During the World Horticultural Exposition held in Beijing this year, President Xi Jinping said that, “we must maintain the overall balance of the earth’s ecology, so that future generations can enjoy rich material wealth, and can also look at the stars in the sky, see the beautiful hills and smell the flowers”, this is the most vivid and appropriate description of the construction of ecological civilization. Therefore, the protection of the dark sky is a work that benefits future generations, has great social significance and also very urgent for people.

 

As the leading non-governmental organization committed to ecological protection and green development in China, the CBCGDF has an the responsibility and obligation to guide and deepen the public’s understanding of the concept of ecological civilization, and hopes to establish communication and cooperation with countries and professionals with advanced development in the field of dark sky protection by participating in the New Zealand Starlight Conference. At the same time, we also hope that all sectors of society can pay more attention, think and act on the dark sky protection, but the idea of “Building the Community of Shared Future for Mankind” into practice and act as the guardian and practitioner of building a better future. Stay tuned for more coverage from CBCGDF on its various news platforms.


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(Photo credit: CBCGDF volunteers)


Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4936/10233.html


By / Xue Tongtong