Light pollution, evil of the century
Set up by the Agir pour l’environnement association, the Day of the Night is a national event which will have its sixteenth edition on Saturday October 12. Year after year, she popularizes the subject of light pollution – which permanently illuminates the night sky – and encourages, by contrast, to enjoy the beauty of the starry sky, which has almost disappeared in urban areas. Light pollution, which was barely talked about a decade ago, is now well documented. It decimates nocturnal biodiversity, such as moths, and it disrupts species in their movements and in their search for prey and food.
Several associations and communities decline the meeting in New Aquitaine. For example Saint-Palais-sur-Mer, in Charente-Maritime, which turns off public lighting on its coastline. Or Vayres, in Gironde, where an observation of the celestial vault is organized. Events are listed on a dedicated website.
Shows in the Landes de Gascogne
The Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park (PNR) celebrates the night for the ninth consecutive year. The meetings are set in Origne (Gironde) this Friday, October 11, and in Sore (Landes) the next day. During previous editions, the Park presented shows and biodiversity discovery workshops to the public. The spirit is a little different this time, with a concert in the countryside, with headphones, at 8 p.m. in Origne. It mixes the sounds of musical instruments and recording the sounds of the night in the forest. The La Bételgeuse astroclub provides star observation equipment.
Saturday, at 8:30 p.m., in Sore, the Marseille company La Folie Kilomètre is offering an experience called “The Disappearance of the Night”, between science, art and dreams. Reservations are required for each of the two evenings (05 57 71 99 99).
As a prelude to the “Starry Sky Reserve” label
The Landes de Gascogne PNR, which brings together 52 municipalities in Gironde and Landes, is very focused on the theme. He set up the project for an “international dark sky reserve” (RICE), a label issued by the DarkSky International association. This favors sites where the night sky is protected from light pollution. France has five RICEs to date: the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, the Cévennes National Park, Alpes Azur Mercantour, the Millevaches Natural Park in Limousin and the Vercors Regional Natural Park.
The Landes de Gascogne PNR expects to get its ticket next year. Deep in its territory, where the density of habitat is low – the South Gironde and the Haute Lande – we can discern 4000 stars with the naked eye. Some of the member municipalities have already undertaken work to modernize their public lighting, so as to minimize “lost light”. Tourism stakeholders in the region integrate this dimension into their “sustainable tourism” approach. And educational actions are already being carried out with schools.
