Star park one step from world recognition

New Zealand has been shortlisted as one of five world heritage night sky reserve sites to be considered at the Unesco world heritage meeting in Brazil next year.

The Tekapo-Aoraki/Mt Cook night sky bid was unanimously supported by a Unesco meeting in Spain this week.

It will join sites in Austria, Spain, Chile and Hawaii to be considered at next year's Unesco World Heritage Committee in Brazil. Should the bids be accepted, they will be classified as World Heritage Reserves.

Starlight Reserve Committee member Graeme Murray said the latest announcement was a "huge step". "We have passed a major obstacle."

He said Tekapo's first proposal to Unesco in 2007 was the inspiration for other international observatories to follow suit.

"It's a pretty radical concept, and Tekapo has been leading the way.

"I think it has taken a lot to convince some of the old guard of Unesco that heritage can also be what's up in the sky as well as on the ground."

Committee chairwoman Margaret Austin presented New Zealand's bid to Unesco in Santa Cruz this week.

"I am quite amazed at what we have achieved so far," she said.

"People are starting to realise the importance of the night sky and its heritage values, there are places in the northern hemisphere where the night pollution is such that people cannot see the stars any more.

The Mt John Observatory, on the other hand, has absolutely pristine clear visions, thanks partly to the light ordinance levels set by the Mackenzie District Council.

"The potential for astro-tourism is huge."

Mt John is home to six telescopes including the country's biggest telescope, which measures 1.8 metres across, and can observe 50 million stars on a clear night. Canterbury University's physics and astronomy department uses the observatory as a research facility.

Mr Murray said the committee would start on a final proposal for the Unesco committee.

"The result has immense implications for the Mackenzie Basin, not just for tourism, but also for future education and research ... because everything one looks at up there is literally going back in time."

- © Fairfax NZ News