This week, Aotearoa New Zealand officially celebrates
Matariki for the fourth time, marked by the reappearance in
the night sky of the star cluster also known as the
Pleiades.
Yet, ironically, the accompanying
celebrations and the legislation
that declares Matariki a public holiday miss the mark. They
fail to promote and protect the country’s dark skies,
which are crucial to seeing the stars in this small
constellation.
While the law recognises Matariki’s
significance to Māori culture and heritage as the beginning
of the Māori New Year, it does not acknowledge that it is
predicated on the visual presence of the star
cluster.
Even where Matariki is not visible owing to
weather conditions, the ability to see other celestial
markers is important (for example Puanga/Puaka, also known
as Rigel). Light pollution is a visual barrier to
experiencing these important stars.
Since the passage
of the legislation, local councils across the country have
marked the public holiday with various light displays. This
year will be no different, with illuminated artworks,
projections and lightboxes at Matariki festivals in several
cities.
Tirama
Mai (bringing the light) will return to Ōtautahi
Christchurch with brightly lit displays. Tāmaki Makaurau
Auckland will see some of its most popular sites, including
Queen Street, lit up as part of Tūrama,
a series of large-scale, illuminated art
installations.
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In Rotorua,
Whakatū
Nelson and Ōtepoti
Dunedin, Matariki festivities include spectacular drone
light shows which will light up the night sky.
After
initially ignoring Māori advice that fireworks
are not appropriate to celebrate Matariki, many local
councils have now abandoned
them. But festivities will no doubt continue to
contribute to light pollution and ignore the need to protect
dark skies at night.
These ill-conceived festivities
are not surprising given the legislation fails to even
mention dark skies. This is exacerbated by New Zealand
emerging as a major player in the increasingly
commercialised space
sector which has developed rapidly since the first
rocket lifted off from Mahia peninsula in 2017.
Fewer
people can now see the Milky Way
Much of Aotearoa’s
landmass has some of the darkest
skies on the planet. Based on land area, 74% of the
North Island and 93% of the South Island rest beneath night
skies that are either pristine
or degraded only near the horizon. Indeed, the area affected
by direct illumination is very low.
Yet, intense
urbanisation means only 3% of the population regularly
experience such skies. About half of all New Zealanders can
no
longer see the Milky Way in winter.
Globally, the
visibility of stars (an indicator of the level of light
pollution) decreased
by 7-10% per year from 2011 to 2022. The visibility of
the night sky in New Zealand appears to be following a
similar trend. Between 2012 and 2021, the area affected by
light pollution grew at a rate
of 4.2% above the global average.
Advertising
and tourism
campaigns reinforce the perception that Aotearoa has
dark skies, but visible
satellites could soon outnumber the stars people can
see, from New Zealand and worldwide.
No legal
protection of dark skies
At present, there is no
explicit domestic law protecting dark skies, nor any
international laws. The law declaring Matariki a public
holiday missed an important opportunity to provide such
protection.
To address this issue, a petition
was presented to parliament in January 2023 calling for
national legislation to promote and protect dark skies. In
March this year, parliament responded
it would not take further actions “due to other priorities
on the government’s resource management reform work
programme”.
This is not surprising. Nevertheless, we
call on the government to develop legislation for the
governance of dark skies in Aotearoa New Zealand that
incorporates mātauranga Māori (Māori
knowledge).
While there are a variety of ways this
could be achieved, controlling light pollution is the crux
of the issue. Light pollution emanates both from unmitigated
urban lighting as well as the expansion of satellite
constellations, which is steadily forming a global net of
moving points of light in space.
An incremental
approach could be a government-backed education programme to
raise awareness of light pollution, followed by the
development of a national policy for its control. An
amendment to the Matariki public holiday law could then
follow in recognition of the national interest.
We are
aware the challenges ahead are many. Yet, protecting dark
skies is vital from a Māori perspective. Practically, such
protections are crucial to the enjoyment and honouring of
Matariki as we continue to risk disconnection from one of
our most important natural features.
Shea
Esterling, Senior Lecturer Above the Bar, University
of Canterbury and William
Grant, Lecturer in Law, University
of Canterbury
This article is republished
from The
Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
Read the original
article.
Disclosure
statement
Shea Esterling receives funding from the
Borrin Foundation.
William Grant does not work
for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any
company or organisation that would benefit from this
article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond
their academic appointment.