Campaigners aim to raise awareness of the damaging ecological effects of artificial light pollution after receiving a council grant.

The Wye Valley Society has been awarded a Nature and Climate Change Grant from Herefordshire Council to deliver a ‘Dark Skies’ Project in part of the local Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The project will raise understanding and combat light pollution through public events and an education programme, firstly in Walford, followed by Goodrich, Welsh Bicknor, Whitchurch, The Dowards and Ganarew.

The society say that lighting accounts for nearly six per cent of global CO2 emissions and 20 per cent of the electricity used worldwide, with inefficient lighting wasting more than £1bn a year in the UK alone.

Cllr Yolande Watson, Herefordshire Councillor for Kerne Bridge, said: “I’m delighted to support and lead on this important project.

“Very few people realise increased Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) is directly linked to negative impacts on human health and wildlife such as bats, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and plants.”

The Dark Skies Project will be working with local volunteers to deliver a year-long campaign - engaging local primary schools, children and their parents to observe and record light pollution, with an aim to inform the development of policy in the Wye Valley AONB and Herefordshire Council.

Virginia Morgan, Wye Valley Society secretary, said: “We will be holding a meeting at the Walford Village Hall next month to highlight the importance of Dark Skies in the Wye Valley and show volunteers how they can measure light pollution.

“It’s a new and exciting project for the Society, members of the community and our partners.”

BugLife.org urges people to only add light where and when it is really need, turning off lights that are unused or using sensors.

You should only use only the brightest light needed, with “warmer” lights reducing the amount of blue-violet light emitted, which is considered more harmful to invertebrates and reflects light upwards, adding to skyglow.

Adding shields to existing lights can also help stop casting light into unwanted places such as trees, hedges and up into the night sky, while curtains should be closed when you put the lights on inside.

Sharing messages about the impacts of light pollution with friends, family and neighbours can also help, while raising the issue with your parish or local councillors can help implement local action plans.

For more information about the ‘Dark Skies’ Project or to get involved, contact Cllr Yolande Watson on [email protected]