For this reason, La Palma promotes values associated with the quality and enjoyment of the sky, such as cultural (archaeoastronomical sites), scientific (astronomical research), astronomical (observatories and amateur observation), landscape or natural (astronomical viewpoints, etc), tourist activities such as our stargazing activities and other businesses ranging from restaurants, themed accommodation and the organisation of astronomical events.

Currently, La Palma has exclusion zones where the natural lighting conditions and clarity of the night sky remain intact, and it also has a participative action plan and a set of recommendations aimed at preserving or recovering the quality of the night sky as far as possible.

You can enjoy the sky of La Palma in one of our astronomical viewpoints or sites of astronomical interest: viewpoints or book one of our astronomy tours to enjoy the stars with a guide and telescopes.

More information about the Starlight Reserve at: Starlight Iniciative y Proyecto Starisland La Palma.

La entrada La Palma is a Starlight Reserve se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.

The year 2020 has meant a change in the world view for the vast majority of people since the incidence of covid19 has made us rethink the way we live and travel. Some places have remained almost immune to this, such as the island of La Palma, where the number of covid cases has been the lowest in Europe.

In an era after coronavirus, La Palma is a safe and healthy destination. New ways of travelling are here, with longer stays, to places where avoiding crowds are possible and  where work (teleworking) and travel can be combined. This is undoubtedly a change brought by covid health measures together with climate change, that will contribute to sustainable tourism. Carbon footprint will decrease with less customers, but with longer stays for each of them.

If you want to enjoy a nature destination away from mass tourism, come to La Isla Bonita.

Ecotourism in La Palma. Ecotourism guide #lapalma
What to do in La Palma?

#hiking #volcanoes #stars #reserve #biosphere #malvasia #gofio

La entrada Ecotourism in La Palma se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.

Light pollution is defined as the introduction of artificial light to an ecosystem (into naturally dark situations), degrading its natural state with the emission of light of different intensities, directions, spectral range and/or unnecessarily varying a light/dark schedule (ie. having lights on a empty office building or streets lights on after certain times).

It is obvious that humans need and use artificial light during the night just…well…simply to live. But the use of artificial light should be in equilibrium with the nocturnal life, energy efficiency and health (avoiding the alteration of sleep patterns and the effect of artificial light at night on some cancers). We should try to minimize the impact of light pollution reducing the negative effects by designing better street lighting, scheduling of street lights, etc.

Light pollution increases the background brightness of the sky by reflecting and diffusion artificial light into the gases and particles in the air. This results in a reduction of visibility of the stars and other celestial objects.

The Sky Law in the Canary Islands (1989) controls gas emissions to the atmosphere on the island, as well as light pollution and air communications routes. The aim of the law is to have transparent and dark sky, with good (if not outstanding) quality for both amateur and professional astronomy. As a result, La Palma is a Dark Reserve (a Starlight Reserve) and thanks to this it has developed a Sustainable Tourism Industry based on the sky. There are many options for astrotourism in La Palma, we recommend you to enjoy the sky in one of our astronomy tours.

La entrada What is light pollution? se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.