DARK
SKY PARK - ENVIRONMENT
News:
India’s First Dark Sky
Park
What's
in the news?
●
The Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra has
been designated as India's first Dark Sky Park and the fifth in Asia,
protecting the night sky and preventing light pollution.
Dark
Sky Park:
●
Dark Sky Park is an area surrounding a
park or observatory that restricts
artificial light pollution.
Purpose:
●
Protection of night skies from light
pollution, promote astronomy
Certified
by:
The International Dark-Sky Association
Features:
●
DSP certification focuses on lighting
policy, dark sky-friendly retrofits, outreach, education, and night sky
monitoring.
India’s
First Dark-Sky Park
- Indian
Astronomical Observatory (IAO)
Situated
at
- Hanle, Ladakh
Operated
by
- The Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Significance:
●
World’s highest located sites for optical,
infrared and gamma-ray telescopes.
Pench
Tiger Reserve (PTR):
●
The Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) in
Maharashtra is India’s first Dark Sky
Park and Asia’s fifth Dark Sky Park.
●
The Reserve is located in the southern
reaches of the Satpura hills in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts in Madhya Pradesh and continues in Nagpur
district in Maharashtra as a
separate Sanctuary.
●
It is named after the Pench River, which
flows from north to south through the Reserve.
●
It comprises the Indira Priyadarshini
Pench National Park, the Pench Mowgli Sanctuary, and a buffer.
●
The area of the Pench Tiger Reserve and
the surrounding area is the real story area of Rudyard Kipling's famous "The Jungle Book".
Terrain:
●
It is undulating, with most of the area
covered by small hills and steep slopes on the sides.
Vegetation:
●
The undulating topography supports a
mosaic of vegetation ranging from a moist sheltered valley to an open, dry
deciduous forest.
Flora:
●
The reserve boasts a diverse range of
flora, including teak, saag, mahua, and various grasses and shrubs.
Fauna:
●
The area is especially famous for large
herds of Chital, Sambar, Nilgai, Gaur
(Indian Bison), and wild boar.
●
The key predator is the tiger, followed by
leopard, wild dogs, and wolf.
●
There are over 325 species of resident and
migratory birds, including the Malabar Pied Hornbill, Indian Pitta, Osprey,
Grey-Headed Fishing Eagle, White-Eyed Buzzard, etc.