Did you know about 80 per cent of the world’s population lives under ‘skyglow’, with large amounts of light pollution making it hard to see stars at night?

Light pollution impacts on the quality of our night skies and the amount of light pollution on the Sunshine Coast is expected to increase as our population grows.

Reducing light pollution can deliver many benefits to the community including economic, health and wellbeing, emissions reduction and wildlife sensitive habitats.

We are lucky here on the Sunshine Coast to have quality night skies in a number of areas across the region and Council is looking at ways to continue to preserve this amazing asset.

By establishing a Dark Sky Reserve, we can preserve our night skies for future generations to enjoy.

Establishing a Dark Sky Reserve would involve:

• improving public lighting such as streetlights
• developing dark sky friendly lighting standards
• demonstrating that our communities care about our dark skies and want to preserve them for the future.

There will be no mandate to change private lighting at your existing home or business within the reserve or to switch off lights. Instead, we encourage everyone to take what steps they can to reduce light pollution while also saving on power bills and helping to protect our hinterland landscape and character. Review the tips below to help reduce light pollution.

The proposed Dark Sky Reserve area is approximately 870km² in size and encompasses the Mary River catchment and adjoining State protected areas within the Sunshine Coast local government area. It includes townships such as Maleny, Mapleton, Montville, Witta, Flaxton and Conondale. Approximately 40 per cent of this area is public land including many state protected areas such as national parks. The area has a population of close to 15,000 residents.

There are two established observatories within the proposed area:

1. Mapleton Observatory located at Mapleton School
2. Maleny Observatory, designated an observatory in 2021 by the Astronomical Society of Australia.

Night sky quality readings indicate the proposed area has the attributes of a Dark Sky Reserve.

View the Proposed Dark Sky Reserve Area here.

If supported by Council and the community, there is a formal written application process for applying for a Dark Sky Reserve designation under the International Dark Sky Places Program.

A comprehensive application includes:

• a lighting management plan and inventory
• evidence of commitment and action to protecting the night sky and engaging with the community for a minimum of 12 months prior to submitting an application
• evidence of community support confirming long-term engagement and commitment towards the creation of the Dark Sky Place.

Council and key stakeholders would need to actively work with the Dark Sky International as part of the application development.