Island Life Magazine Ltd December/January 2018 | Page 82

Country life Countryside news By Tony Ridd Dark Wight Skies Dark Skies are special areas across the world where there are low levels of light pollution. When there is an absence of light pollution, thousands of stars are revealed at night, which is beneficial to the wildlife and tranquillity of an area as well as providing an out of season boost for tourism. We are lucky that much of the Isle of Wight has a high quality of night sky. This is especially apparent within the Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (IW AONB). Working together, IW AONB along with the Vectis Astronomical Society (VAS), Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the Isle of Wight Society have been successful in their quest to achieve international recognition for the Island’s night sky. Visitors already come to the Island for Star Gazing, and the Dark Wight Skies recognition shows that the Island is a world- class destination to see Dark Skies. This will boost out-of-season tourism because the best time to observe the night sky is between October and March. Joel Bateman from the IW AONB said: “We feel it would be hugely beneficial for both human and wildlife tranquillity to reduce light pollution across the Island, not just within protected areas. There are real opportunities to improve the night time environment for all residents - moths, bats and badgers included - as well as boosting a very exciting tourism opportunity”. For more detail please contact IW AONB on 01983 823855 or [email protected] 82 www.visitilife.com Picture by Chad Powell Sandown Community Orchard bears fruit One of our favourite sites, that we look after, is Sandown Community Orchard and Wetland Walk. This is a fantastic place for people to “dip their toe’ into experiencing nature. But, it is far too wet in winter., so we are putting in a boardwalk, some new benches, a board telling the story of the site and improving the hedges. We also want to get more people to use it, so we can show people what it has to offer, and maybe how they can use the free fruit! Thanks to a National Lottery Grant we received, we will be bringing this beautiful site into tip-top condition. Work will take place this winter and the first half of 2018. Look out for more updates at www.gifttonature.org.uk