The clock goes back again: place in darkness during the Night of the Night

Darkness becomes a scene this weekend. During the Nuit de la Nuit, from Saturday to Sunday, attention is drawn to the importance of darkness and the nuisance caused by artificial light. Tonight there will be activities in the dark all over Drenthe. The Night of the Night always takes place when winter time starts again, like last night.

Reinder Hoekstra counts the number of streetlights on the business park on the south side of Assen, which is still under development. The director of the Federation Nature and Environment Drenthe is concerned about the large amount of artificial light. “A large number of streetlights, as well as a gas station with a huge amount of illuminated advertising and an advertising mast under construction,” summarizes Hoekstra. “The lighting is fine, but if everything becomes very exuberant and we do this all over Drenthe, we will no longer find ourselves in the dark.”

In places where the landscape is bathed in artificial light, some (nocturnal) animals are disturbed. Amphibians for example: they avoid bright places. The more light there is, the smaller their habitat becomes. Artificial light disturbs the biological clock of moths and some species of bats lose their habitat, as do amphibians.

“If you look at the Netherlands from above, it becomes the brightest place in Europe. All this light bothers us. That is, people can no longer see a starry sky, no can no longer experience darkness, but animals suffer too.” of that. de.” Hoekstra indicates that the development of more and more lighting seems to be leveling off. Nevertheless, he remains a spearhead of the organization.

The light doesn’t have to turn off completely; it calls for smarter use: LED lighting for example, more economical and more targeted lighting. “Then we can preserve darkness – one of Drenthe’s primary values. And darkness turns out to be a very precious good, also for Drenthe. Part of our province’s strength is ‘the primal’: rediscovering the peace, just accepting can enjoy a dark night.”

The Nature and Environment Federation has been fighting against excessive artificial light since 2005. That year, more than a hundred volunteers set out to investigate light pollution. This resulted in the first light source map of Drenthe: a milestone for the NMF, which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year.