NZ Starlight Reserve team Brazil-bound

New Zealand will further its bid to create the world’s first World Heritage Starlight Reserve above the South Island’s Mackenzie country, with a delegation to Brazil this week.

Hon. Margaret Austin and two Department of Conservation delegates will be attending a meeting of the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee from 25 July to 3 August.

The NZ delegation hopes to persuade the committee to approve a thematic study which argues that stars and planets are part of natural heritage and the sky is a cultural resource common to natural heritage ... the next step in a lengthy process to protect the world’s night skies.

World Heritage process
The process began five years ago and involves having the science of astronomy added to the world heritage status for monuments, sites, landscapes and cultural landscapes.

If the World Heritage Committee approves the study, New Zealand can begin preparing its case - which proposes the skies above Tekapo and Mt John in the McKenzie District, become a Starlight Reserve.

Margaret Austin says that once a dossier is developed and agreed within New Zealand, the case will then go on a tentative list to be assessed by the World Heritage Committee against criteria which include whether it is of outstanding universal value and has integrity and authenticity.

"It is a long, long process and we have to follow procedures. This session in Brazil is absolutely critical in the way forward but it is the first step. Make no mistake, securing world heritage for our Starlight Reserve is enormously significant, prestigious and worth pursuing. There is no question about the international interest in this," she said.

Astrotourism
There would be significant advantages for tourism, education, research and the local economy, said Austin.

"Without doubt the Mackenzie District has great potential with its landscape features, botanical biodiversity, and scientific research at the University of Canterbury Observatory. In addition Māori navigation by the stars and determination of the seasons are important customs."

Earth and Sky Ltd, the company which heads astrotourism at Tekapo, was already providing tourism opportunities as well as public awareness and education of the young, said Austin.

"No one who has experienced the ‘night sky’ there has been anything other than delighted at what was seen and learned. It is a unique experience centred on the Observatory and supported by the District Council through its lighting ordinances to control lighting in the town," she said.

Pollution-free stars
The Lake Tekapo Starlight Reserve Working Party says few places remain in the world where people can enjoy the stars pollution free.

"It is the responsibility of countries like New Zealand who can still enjoy their night skies to protect them from pollution," says Austin.

"Fifty percent of the world's people no longer see the stars, those places that do, have got a responsibility to preserve them. We are losing our opportunity to observe our night sky."

Lake Tekapo
Mount John Observatory above Lake Tekapo is the heart of research astronomy in New Zealand and increasingly attracts tourists to enjoy its clear view into the stars.

"Standing up here you really feel like you're on top of the world. Mount John Observatory is one of the most accessible and with 70% cloud free nights and almost no light pollution it makes it an ideal candidate for world heritage status," Margaret Munro of Earth and Sky says.

The spot was popular because there were a limited number of places like it around the world, she said.

"Some people are reduced to tears, they find it such a spiritual thing to see the stars."

More information

Heritage Starlight Reserve moves closer

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