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

Light pollution can impact on the quality of our night skies and the amount of light pollution on the Sunshine Coast could be expected to increase across the next 20 years and beyond as our population increases.

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

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.

The proposed Dark Sky Reserve area is 873km² in size and encompass 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% 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. The Mapleton Observatory located at Mapleton School.
2. Maleny Observatory – designation 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.

Following preliminary investigations, the Dark Sky Reserve Project is in Phase 2 – Phased community engagement and technical documentation. As part of this phase, we have sought community feedback on the proposal before determining whether to pursue a formal application under the International Dark Sky Places Program.

Applying for a Dark Sky Reserve designation includes the submission of a comprehensive application to Dark Sky International for consideration.

Establishing a Dark Sky Reserve would involve:

• Improving public lighting such as streetlights
• Developing dark sky friendly lighting standards
• Demonstrating 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 protect our hinterland character and landscape.