Media release – May 7, 2009

NZ working party formed to help world night-sky reserve bid at Tekapo

An expanded New Zealand working party has been formed to ensure the Tekapo bid to become world night-sky reserve is successful, former Cabinet minister Margaret Austin said today.

The working party, which becomes part of the Mackenzie Tourism and Development Trust, will elect a chair and set its tasks at the first meeting in July.

New Zealand's first starlight reserve proposal - one of eight world-wide night UNESCO heritage site bids – took a strong step forward after a UNESCO meeting in the Canaries, Spain, last month.

Ms Austin said the working party was set up this week to ensure the concept of a world starlight reserve had support from the local community through to central government.  It will consult with all necessary parties, and will be ready to proceed when UNESCO has finalised its thematic study and made decisions on the way forward.

ur intention is to see this incredible project through to its ultimate result and our dream - a starlight reserve with a recognised international status spanning the sky in the Mackenzie district. There is a strong likelihood that other people will be co-opted to the group as the bid gains momentum and the necessary support is gained from central government and other organisations.

``We are seeking government support on this and further endorsement will be made at a final UNESCO working party meeting in October. This will be crucial and we need to make sure we get this right. We only get one chance at this. The final decision will be announced in Rio de Janerio next year,’’ she said.

The new working party will be made up of Leon O’Sullivan, representing the Mackenzie council and Tekapo community,; Denis Callesen, representing the Mount Cook community; Margaret Austin, former Cabinet minister; Richard McNamara from the Department of Conservation; a University of Canterbury and Mt John Observatory representative;  and Graeme Murray, driving force and founding member of the bid.

Austin said half the people of the world at present could not see the stars because of night light pollution. With Tekapo by-laws already in place and monitoring the effects on the night sky of further development are not expected to impact on the quality of the night sky which along with increased research activity will allow for astro-tourism to fully develop in the area. Already there are about 1.4 million people through Tekapo annually.

People’s ability to see the starlight is in increasing danger, due to light pollution and pollution of the air and the Canaries UNESCO meeting last month highlighted two areas, La Palma in Spain and Tekapo as two of the best night sky areas in the world.

Mt John above the Tekapo township is considered one of the most accessible observatories in the world. The observatory is home to six telescopes including the country's biggest telescope which measures 1.8m across and can observe 50 million stars each clear night.
 
Graeme Murray, a major driving force behind the Tekapo project, said it would be a positive result for New Zealand and the district to have the Mt John observatory and the Lake Tekapo area confirmed as the world's first Starlight Reserve.
 
Murray is a director of Earth and Sky which operates at Mt John Observatory above Lake Tekapo, in association with Canterbury and Nagoya Universities and is a director of the Mackenzie Tourism and Development Trust who are helping drive the initiative.

``The bid will now be expanded to hopefully include Mr Cook National Park and associated areas. The world reserve, if approved, will have enormous ramifications not only for tourism science research and education in the area but also for New Zealand as a whole,’’ Murray said.

Many places overseas have lost touch with stars in the sky but the Mackenzie country still has a pristine dark sky and a park in the sky world reserve will ensure New Zealand is kept on the astronomy and astro-tourism map. 

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