Most people have not seen a real night sky in years. Light pollution has taken it from nearly every city and most of the countryside in Europe. One of the things the search looks for is land where it is still dark, and one of the things the land will protect is that darkness.
Dark sky takes rules. No floodlights, ever. Bulbs warm, dim and aimed down. Fixtures shielded so no light goes up. Lanterns along the paths, and out by a set hour. The stage lit for the performance and then dark. On a clear night the main event on the land is lying on your back in a field, and that event has to be protected rather than produced.
Darkness is also good for everything that lives on the land. Moths, bats, owls and the trees themselves need night. The dark sky rule is an ecology rule as much as a light rule.
Related words
- Fire keeperThe person responsible for a fire from the moment it is lit until it is out: wood, water, safety, and staying to the end.
- Light artArt made with light: lanterns, candles, fire sculpture, projection on trees, installations that exist only after dark.
- RewildingDeliberately leaving parts of the land alone so that wild processes, and wild species, return on their own.
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