[Darksky]Re: sanctions for the birds re: avian causalties due to office tower lights

[Jan Hollan]

Dear Joilene, 

 protection of birds from artificial light at night should be a concern
for us in Czechia as well of course. The proposed regulation (see
e.g. http://amper.ped.muni.cz/darksky or simply
http://www.astro.cz/darksky ) does not mention bird protection
explicitly. The general obligation to avoid any direct light from outdoor
lamps into the heavens should help probably. 

I know that tall buildings are another threat, esp. with shining windows
at night. There is no regulation of them in the Lombardy law I used as a
model, and in my proposal I remained VERY conservative. But with any
explicit support from Czech biologists, I'd gladly add a new paragraph
into the Statutory Order draft. I might be unpopular to demand anything
from the residents. But it is surely wise to put some restrictions on the
administrative buildings at least, in spite there are not many high ones
in Czechia.

There are also some towers in Czechia which are lit on purpose, every
night, as some people think it's marvellous. As well as for the glazed
buildings, I have no idea how much birds get killed, injured or confused
by them. Perhaps, with no guaranty that ``they do no harm'', it would be
better to put some restrictions on their lighting, knowing there are
examples on your http://www.flap.org when they do harm a lot. 

(I've noticed now I have no direct link to FLAP page neither from my main
English page nor from the Czech one, just from the many texts mentioned
there, sorry, I'll correct it now.)

Unfortunately, I've found no ornithologist yet who would help me actively
in combating the light pollution. But I'll try further. I can draft some
regulations myself and just ask the biologists to support them. We've used
bird protection as an argument when lobbying in the Parliament, now we
should do something as well.

with best regards,
 Jenik

(you can phone me anytime anywhere within 6 to 21 UTC (GMT); to the
observatory anytime literally, I just may happen to be not there... I'll
gladly speak with you -- esp. when I have no strong bird-conservationist
ally in Czechia, your help would be much appreciated. I should add I'm
able to read French a bit if needed, just I don't speak.)

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                                Jan Hollan
              N. Copernicus Observatory and Planetarium in Brno
Kraví hora 2, CZ - 616 00 Brno                        +420 (5) 41 32 12 87

                                   home:
Lipová 19, 602 00 Brno                                         43 23 90 96

                 member of the Society for Sustainable Living
             and volunteer of the Ecological counselling Veronica
Panská 9, 602 00 Brno, Czechia                  fax:  +420 (5) 42 21 05 61

e-mail: hollanAped....cz             http://astro.sci.muni.cz/pub/hollan
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On Fri, 24 May 2002, JOILENE SHOLTES wrote:

> Dear Jenik,
>  
> Please allow me to formally introduce myself to you. My name is Joilene
> and I am writing to you from Toronto, Canada. I hope that you can read
> english or that you have a translation database. If not, I will try to
> call you if I do not hear from you within a week. I will provide you with
> my telephone number if you prefer to contact me via telephone. Well, I am
> a volunteer for FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program). This organization
> is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and or tagging migratory birds
> that have come into contact with tall, brightly-lit office towers while
> on their migration paths. They usually follow the patterns of the stars to
> guide them to their destination but get confused with the office building
> lights and veer of their star-lit course to follow the lights in the
> buildings.The result is often fatal, as they crash into the windows and
> fall to their demise or they are stunned and they often do not recoperate
> the effect because they fall prey to scavengers, unsuspecting feet of
> people or the panic and fly again into a window. However, the reason I am
> writing to you is that I was thrilled to learn of your efforts with
> respect to your aid in the implementation of the new light pollution law
> and was wondering if there are any regulations stating enforcement
> measures for the effects on birds from lighted office buildings? Are
> there regulations for office buildings to turn off their lights at night
> during migration times for birds who will be migrating in an urban area
> wherein tall, lit buildings abound? Or, do you have regulations providing
> for the enforcment of alternative lighting measures such as motion
> sensitive lights etc..? Please just write back to me and we can discuss
> and/or focus further on this matter.My telephone number is
> 1-416-703-5302. I hope to hear from you soon. You could also send me a
> copy of the act but we can talk about that later. I just want to hear
> from you. I thank you and I hope you are doing well.