Lights off: Why Stewart Island is chasing a dark sky status, and what it means for residents

Friday, 26 October 2018

At the bottom of the world Stewart Island is campaigning to protect its starry skies, writes Dave Nicoll.

Looking up at the night sky over Stewart Island.

Stewart Island had all of its street lights replaced in July and August. One by one 42 street lights came down, and up went dimmer lights. Contractors replaced 38 high-pressure sodium lights with 3000k LED lights, tilting them 0 degrees. They replaced four bollard lights with LED models that were fully shielded, directing their light downwards.

Stewart Island, although already described as intrinsically dark and exceptional for stargazing, is on a mission to become just that little bit darker. A month after the lights were replaced it applied to be a Dark Sky Sanctuary - an honour reserved for just four other sanctuaries in the world considered to have distinguished starry nights and a nocturnal environment.

With that status it hopes to protect its dark skies by shunning light, and encouraging tourism in the shoulder season. The skies, says Invercargill astronomer Steve Butler who is supporting the application process, are special and worthy of protection just as much as our bush and seas.

*Plan change likely for Dark Skies Sanctuary on Stewart Island

*Stewart Island has eyes on the night sky**

He recalls tourists arriving at fellow dark skies territory, Tekapo, and crying as they arrive. New Zealanders might not know how special our skies are: 'If you get a really good dark sky you can almost reach out and touch the stars, it's that sort of feeling. It's just overwhelming looking up.'

The International Dark-Sky Association's (IDA) dark sky places program was founded in 2001, and has anointed 100 'dark sky' places globally since then, the locations distinct by whether they are a sanctuary, a reserve, a park or community.

Invercargill astronomer Steve Butler with his Meade ETX 105 reflecting telescope.

Other sanctuaries are NZ's Great Barrier Island, Cosmic Campground in New Mexico, US; Gabriela Mistral in Chile's Valle del Elqui, and Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Utah, US. What they have in common is their remoteness, and a striking view of the sky, unpolluted by light.

Stewart Island, population 390, is home to residents who live in the small settlement of Oban at the north-eastern corner. The centre of the town sits in Halfmoon Bay where the pub, wharf and general store reside with houses nestled in native bush.

Since the early arrival of Maori it has been known as 'the land of the glowing skies', for which it was given the name Rakiura.The land, of which 85 percent is protected as a national park, is virtually free of artificial light.

But the application process to become a dark sky place is more complicated than just being dark. To qualify, the sanctuary must be on legally protected, publicly accessible land. The site must provide exceptional dark sky resource where the night sky brightness is routinely equal to or darker than 21.5 magnitudes per square arc second.

The island also has to show its commitment by enforcing rules to limit lighting - hence the disappearing street lights. A sample management plan suggests only permitting outdoor lighting for safety reasons, with exemptions for motion sensor lighting, with amber shades preferred, and no white light.

It says trails should not be lit, visitors provide their own lighting, roadway lighting be restricted to conflict zones like intersections, signs be made of high reflectivity material and flags be lowered at sunset.

Venture Southland enterprise and strategic projects group manager Steve Canny.

To conform, a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Department of Conservation, local iwi, the Rakiura Maori Lands Trust, the Stewart Island community board, Venture Southland and the Stewart Island Promotions Association, to implement a lighting management plan, monitor the quality of the sky and promote and provide education about the sanctuary.

The Southland District Council is drafting changes to its district plan to ensure future developments meet the requirements that will go out for consultation in the new year.

Stewart Island's dark skies potential has been talked about for years, and Stewart Island Promotions committee member Anita Geeson says it gained momentum in 2016 during development of the Southland Regional Development Strategy.

Rebecca Wilson Jennings captured the Milky Way stretching high above Aurora Australis over Stewart Island. Image supplied by Venture Southland.

Part of the appeal was providing an activity for tourists, who are increasingly visiting the island - more than 44,000 people visited in 2017, and it has seen a 100 per cent growth in visitor numbers in four years. Tourism is a key part of the island's economy and during the warmer months the island does a roaring trade with visitors attracted by the island's natural environment.

Being a dark sky sanctuary could bring visitors to the island in the slow winter months when stargazing opportunities are at their best.

Venture Southland 'pounced' on the sanctuary proposal Geeson says, because it was achievable and wouldn't cost a lot. Community consultation was positive: 90 residents supported the proposal, 11 did not.

Concerns raised were the impact of lighting rules, potential costs to businesses, safety issues, the impact of extra tourists and the inconsistency of weather to provide stargazing opportunities.

But despite the perceived strictness of the suggested guidelines by the IDA, Geeson says the island won't be removing lighting, but adjusting them.

Being a dark sky sanctuary is really about protecting the natural asset that was the night sky, she says. The step seems a natural one: 'We've got a national park, we've got a marine reserve area, so why not have a dark sky sanctuary as well?'

The average Kiwi might not know that Stewart Island can offer a view of our galaxy that only a few places in the world can see. Invercargill astronomer Steve Butler says most Kiwis take for granted New Zealand's star views.

Butler is the director of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand Dark Skies group and is a member of IDA. Founded in 1988 in the US, it's dedicated to protecting night skies by educating the public and policy makers about night sky conservation and the effects of light pollution.

The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand has its own dark skies group actively involved in promoting efficient night lighting to preserve dark skies.

Butler has been involved in the establishment of each of New Zealand's dark sky places, helped with applications by writing letters of support and has nominated locations. He's been instrumental in helping Stewart Island try and achieve sanctuary status.

'In terms of stargazing, the really good to stuff to look at is visible from southern New Zealand on the winter nights,' he says.

During the Southern Hemisphere winter, New Zealand is between the sun and the centre of our galaxy, and the centre of the Milky Way passes almost directly overhead. It's a view the northern hemisphere does not get.

The island has some of the best views in the world to see the Southern lights or Aurora Australis. The southern part of New Zealand is particularly close to the southern magnetic pole, Butler says.

The first dark sky place to be established in New Zealand was the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve in 2012. Six years on Tekapo attracts thousands of visitors seeking out the night sky.

The application was submitted on September 24 and now it will go before a a standing Dark Sky Places Committee whose members are successful Dark Sky Places applicants. The committee makes a recommendation to the IDA board of directors for final approval.

Aurora Australis as captured by Stewart Island resident Sandra Whipp. Image supplied by Venture Southland.

The application is not driven just by star gazing, but about preserving the night sky, Butler says. He thinks the NZ Tourism tagline '100 per cent pure' isn't accurate. He reckons it's about 50 per cent.

'Because we forgot about the night half of the environment.'

A lot of things depend on having darkness and it is just as valuable as daylight, he says. Artificial light disrupts the natural day-night pattern shifting the delicate balance of our environment, and he says a 'growing body of evidence' links light pollution directly to measurable negative impacts on human health, the ecosystem and wildlife.

Even before the application was seriously considered in 2016, in 2008 Venture Southland produced a report looking at developing the space and astronomy industry in Southland, focusing on Stewart Island.

Serena Dawson captured the Aurora Australis over Iona Island in Patterson Inlet, Stewart Island. Image Supplied by Venture Southland.

Group business and strategic project manager Steve Canny said it identified Southland needed to protect the night sky for outward observation by considering the impacts of light, radio frequency interference and electromagnetic radiation.

And in 2017 it paid $16,000 for consultants Xyst found Stewart Island had intrinsically dark skies with a surface brightness that is regularly higher than 21.5 magnitudes per arcsecond. The ideal dark sky site would be rated at 22.0 magnitudes per arcsecond.

The island's application was submitted in September and a decision will come through before the end of the year.

Great Barrier Island local board chair Izzy Fordham says it's a little early to see a major tourism impact since the island got its sanctuary status, but there had been some more visitors in the shoulder season.

One company had launched a dark sky experience business and is doing a good trade, and some community members had been trained to be dark sky ambassadors to educate the public and provide information on the night skies and how they can be enjoyed.

Steve Butler says with better and more affordable digital camera technology, the power comes into the hands of non-astronomers to embrace the aesthetics and art of night time photography. The popularity has been fuelled by social media.

For someone who has been working tirelessly to raise awareness about lighting and light pollution, it's good to see the public become more aware of the night environment.

'It's a quiet satisfaction.'