Pench Tiger Reserve is India's First, Asia's Fifth Dark Sky Park

The Tiger Reserve has been granted the Dark Sky certification in recognition to the efforts to protect night sky and prevent light pollution in line with the recommendation by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to preserve natural darkness for nature conservation.

Chhindwara: In a moment of pride for the country, the Pench Tiger Reserve located on the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border has become India's first and Asia's fifth dark sky park in recognition to the efforts to protect night sky and prevent light pollution, which has made the Tiger Reserve ideal for astronomy enthusiasts, sources said.

Deputy Director of Pench Tiger Reserve, Prabhu Nath Shukla confirmed that the dark park certification has been granted to the PTR. Shukla informed that the dark sky certification comes in the backdrop of the recommendations by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to preserve natural darkness for nature conservation, ecological integrity in protected areas, and the well-being of communities in healthy cities.

The IUCN emphasised on the recognition of the intrinsic value of the night sky as a natural, cultural, and historical resource. Sources said that due to continuous use of artificial light and lighting sources, light pollution has become a major threat to natural cultural and historical resources. For this, the Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society Working Group, led by the International Astronomical Union, had recommended the government to create dark sky oases to mitigate light pollution.

The system focuses on dark sky lighting policy, dark sky friendly retrofits and night sky. Watch towers have been built in about 100 villages including Baghauli, Silari, Pipariya and Khapa villages falling in the area of Pench National Park. Rajneesh Kumar Singh, Deputy Director of Pench Tiger Reserve termed the dark sky certification a big achievement for Pench Tiger Reserve.

The experiment done by the Maharashtra team will be expanded to the areas of Seoni in Madhya Pradesh and Pench Tiger Reserve Park in Chhindwara district, he said. Dark Sky is usually set around a park, to prevent light pollution from modern street lights and artificial lights. It has special features of star night and a unique night environment.

Generally its purpose is to promote astronomy. In the Dark Sky Park, modern night lights are mounted on the ground in such a way that excessive light does not spread during the night and only the light coming from the sky falls directly on the ground.