 |
 |
IDSP includes the upper, boundary part of the Izera valley and the Jizerka valley together with surrounding mountain ridges. The boundaries of the park run through Wysoki Grzbiet Izerski, from Smrk to Wysoka Kopa, on the south through Cicha Równina up to the railway bridge before Harrachov station. From this point, the boundary follows the north-west direction, passing through Černý vrch (near Jizerka settlement) and reaches Smrk. The IDSP territory is sparsely populated, therefore the amount of artificial light in the area is small. This results in good quality of the nocturnal environment and dark sky. Almost 2000 stars can be observed on the Izerian sky, whereas in big city centres the number decreases to 500. Unfortunately, the sky you can observe in the Izera Mountains is gradually becoming a rare view. Thanks to light pollution, over half of European citizens are not able to enjoy the dark sky as it is in the Izera Mountains.
Like other dark sky parks in the world, IDSP is a place that conveys knowledge about light pollution and gives us the opportunity to observe the starry night sky. Moreover, another aim of tha park is to point out rational ways of reducing light pollution, and also promote the conservation of the nocturnal environment.
Ipso facto, the Izera valley has become yet another (third) place in Poland where conscious actions had been made to protect the dark sky in our country. The transboudary character of the project makes it unique. The Astronomical Institute of the University of Wrocław is the initiator.
Here you can find a PDF file with more information:
http://www.astro.uni.wroc.pl/projekty_izerskie/park/ipcn/IPCN-dla-mediow.pdf