What does International Dark Sky Reserve status mean?

The South Downs National Park was the second IDSR designated in England and now one of only 25 in the world. With 2.2 million people living within 10km of the National Park our reserve is one of the most accessible in the world.
There are approximately 2,700 streetlights in the National Park. Local lighting authorities are gradually replacing these over time to comply with Dark Sky standards.
More than 25,000 individual measurements were taken to map the night skies quality across the South Downs. 66 per cent of the National Park has skies where the Milky Way is visible on clear, dark nights.

In the future the South Downs National Park Authority will use its role as a planning authority to protect the dark skies above the National Park as well as the landscape on the ground.

Draft policies for the South Downs National Park’s Local Plan include specific lighting requirements that developers will need to meet.