Source: The post is based on the article “Maharasta Pench Tiger Reserve becomes India’s First dark sky park” published in “Live Mint” on 13th January 2024.
Why in News?
Recently, the Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Maharashtra has been marked as India’s first international Dark Sky Park.
Why Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) marked as Dark Sky Park?
1) A night observatory has been established and the area near Bagholi is designated for stargazing.
2) The park has replaced over 100 street and community lights with downward-facing lights in various villages, minimizing their impact on the night sky.
3) All these efforts helps in protecting the night sky, preventing light pollution and promoting astronomy.
The IUCN emphasizes preserving natural darkness for nature conservation, maintaining ecological integrity in protected areas, and ensuring the well-being of communities in healthy cities.
What is a Dark Sky Park?
1) Dark sky Park is an area surrounding a park or observatory that restricts artificial light pollution.
2) Purpose: Protection of night skies from light pollution, promote astronomy
3) Certified by: The International Dark-Sky Association
4) DSP certification focuses on lighting policy, dark sky-friendly retrofits, outreach, education, and night sky monitoring.
5) India’s first dark-sky preserve: Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO)
- Situated at: Hanle, Ladakh
- Operated by: The Indian Institute of Astrophysics
- Significance: world’s highest located sites for optical, infrared and gamma-ray telescopes.
6) The Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Maharashtra is India’s first Dark Sky Park and Asia’s fifth Dark Sky park.
What is Pench Tiger reserve?
| Specifications | Details |
| Location | Maharashtra |
| Geographical Features | 1. The sanctuary is located across two states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. 2. The portion of the reserve that is in Madhya Pradesh is located in the Satpura ranges. |
| National Park | 1. The reserve comprises the Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park, the Pench Mowgli Sanctuary and a buffer. 2. The reserve is also among the sites notified as Important Bird Areas (IBA) of India. |
| Significance | 1. Typical representation of the wilderness of great Central Indian Highland. 2. Excellent habitat to harbor the Tiger, the highly endangered species. 3. Catchment of river Pench that ultimately affects the storage of water in the Totladoh reservoir – the main source of water supplies to Nagpur and generation of electricity for Madhya Pradesh. |
| Rivers | The Pench river flows through the middle of the park. |
| Flora | 1) Combination of Southern dry broadleaf teak forests and tropical mixed deciduous forests. 2) Various shrubs, climbers, and trees, some of which are unique with medicinal and healing properties. 3) Bamboo plantations are also found near the water banks. |
| Fauna | 1) It includes various mammals such as sloth bear, jackal, nilgai, wild dog etc. 2) Birds like peafowl, magpie robin, pintail, drongo, unia, myna etc. are also found. |
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