Habitat Nature Night. Raising awareness to preserve the (dark) night and protect the biodiversity of nocturnal flora and fauna

Associated persons Christina Pichler-Koban, Anna Kovarovics
Clients Natural History Museum Vienna
Regions Austria
Year 2019

The anthropogenic brightening of the night sky, currently discussed as "light pollution", has far-reaching effects on nocturnal creatures and, in several respects, also on humans. In a project lasting several years, E.C.O. is working together with the Natural History Museum Vienna and the Environment Agency Austria on the preparation of the significance of the (dark) night for the protection and conservation of biodiversity and is making this important topic accessible to a broad public. As part of the interdisciplinary project team, E.C.O. is developing recommendations for protected areas with natural night lighting conditions in order to incorporate these into their management plans and thus protect the remaining areas with a natural night sky. In addition, a nature education programme will be developed to sensitise the public to the topic and implement it in appropriate protected areas. With this project a substantial contribution is made to this important nature conservation topic of the 21st century.

To the project's website: https://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/forschung/projekt_lebensraum_naturnacht.

Funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism, the European Union and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) within the Austrian programme for Rural Development 2014-2020 (Programme LE 14-20).