Regional park in west of France named dark-sky preserve

The Landes de Gascogne regional park has been awarded the dark-sky preserve label by an anti-light pollution group in recognition for its reduction of public lighting.

American anti-light pollution group DarkSky International acknowledged the Landes de Gascogne as a dark-sky preserve on February 12, making it the sixth in France, with up to 4,000 stars visible.

The park in Nouvelle-Aquitaine covers over 3,000 km² across the departments of Gironde, Landes and Lot-et-Garonne.

‘A great source of pride’

The label requires local authorities to reduce street lighting and light pollution to make stars visible to the naked eye.

“It is a great source of pride because it is a prestigious label,” park manager Vincent Dedieu told French media. “We are the first lowland area to be awarded the label.”

The recognition follows the park’s success in convincing 53 communes in the park, as well as 29 neighbouring communes, to reduce light pollution.

“Some of them had to be persuaded, as the requirements were very high. We readjusted the request and supported the local authorities,” said Mr Dedieu

“There was a real need for energy sobriety, over and above obtaining the label. We reached communes as far afield as the Bassin d'Arcachon. We managed to get Lège-Cap-Ferret on board too - and that's a real success story.”

The campaign proved popular, but also helped save money for local communes, said Bruno Gardère, mayor of Saint-Symphorien (Gironde).

“Basically, we already had a lot of requests from the public to turn off as much lighting as possible at night,” he told Le Figaro. 

“It is a very good move, given the rising cost of electricity. We are making considerable savings and the residents are delighted.”

“I hope that this label will bring even more tourism to the Landes de Gascogne.”