Lately, energy saving has been in the focus of public discussions. Who saves energy, saves money and spares resources. Dimming or turning of the lights in the night however also has a positive effect on nature, on animals in particular, but also on the human body and health. Light pollution is a growing problem in industrial and urban regions. According to the European environment Agency’s latest report, 99 percent of Europe’s residents live in light polluted environments. In Luxembourg, the most polluted areas are the ones in the south and around the capital. But even in the rural north, light pollution is a problem. Last year, the Nature Park Our completed a pilot project on light pollution – together with other Euorpean regions. The Nature Park Our is situated around the municipalities of Vianden, Clervaux and Troisvierges. The region is less industrialized than the rest of Luxembourg. No giant factories as in the south, no economic hub as in the capital. Nevertheless, light pollution is a problem, even in the rural north. Laurent Spithoven, leader of the project to reduce night light in Nature park Our. “International studies for years have shown that several animals are very sensitive to too much artificial light in the night”, he explains. “Several species need the night to be dark. For instance, the animals that hunt during in the night, have adapted to find they prey in the dark. Too much brightness influences their hunting conditions in a negative way. Other animals such as migratory birds can be distracted from their route. They get their bearings by the brightest points in their visual range. The birds use stars and the moon for navigation.” Too much light severely impacts the habitat of those animals and, on the long run, weakens them and threatens biodiversity.
With the conclusion of the Interreg project, the fight against light pollution has just started in Nature Park Our. To protect the habitats of animals as well as the health of human beings, more will be done to stop the waste of light and its consequences.
A Story from our Local Matters Archive.