Amateur astronomers and the Nantou County Government are planning to establish a sky preservation area on Hehuanshan (合歡山) and hope to obtain certification from the International Dark-Sky Association.
The association, a non-profit organization based in Arizona, aims to prevent light pollution and encourages communities worldwide to protect dark sites through feasible lighting policies.
Hehuanshan is known as an ideal spot for stargazing.
Photo: Tung Chen-kuo, Taipei Times
The Directorate-General of Highways in 2016 canceled a plan to erect three street lamps along the No. 14 Jia Provincial Highway (省道台十四甲線) after protests from amateur astronomers and photographers.
To protect the night sky, local residents in April last year established the Nantou Dark Sky Alliance, joined by members of the Cingjing Tourism Association, National Chi Nan University and other amateur astronomers.
The alliance’s priority is to set up a preservation area for nocturnal animals and stargazers in Hehuanshan’s Yuanfong (鳶峰), which it hopes would become the nation’s first sky preservation area.
Photo courtesy of the Cingjing Tourism Association
“On average, 80 percent of people in the world have never had a glimpse of the [Milky Way] galaxy, and 90 percent of Taiwanese live in places with serious light pollution,” Taipei Amateur Astronomers Association member Liu Chih-an (劉志安) said.
“If light pollution can be curbed, the starry sky will naturally become [visible] again,” he said, adding that local authorities could limit the use of lighting devices in Yuanfong at night, as long as it does not affect road safety.
If the preservation plan in Yuanfong works, it can be extended to Hehuanshan’s Wuling (武嶺) and Kunyang (昆陽), he said.
While the Cingjing Tourism Association aims to apply for certification from the association in July, it is worried that the application might be rejected due to inadequate facilities and environmental problems in Yuanfong.
Nantou Tourism Office Director Wang Yuan-chung (王源鍾) said that a new firm had won the tender to operate Yuanfong’s parking lot this year and it has listed star observation as one of its priorities and removed unnecessary LED billboards and street lamps,
The operator would also carry out protection measures, such as turning off the lights from 7pm to 6am every day and redesigning the parking lot’s space and traffic routes, Wang said.
The county government should limit the number of visitors to 200 per night, the association said, adding that the tourist service center in Yuanfong can be converted into an astronomy education center.
Measurements on night sky brightness rate Yuanfong between a silver and gold level, and it can be even better if light pollution can be further reduced, association member Lee Tsung-hsiu (李從秀) said.
The night sky in Wuling and Kunyang are rated gold, Lee added.
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