On the 13th, the Nantou County Government held the “Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky Park International Forum and Light Pollution of Dark Sky Monitoring Presentation” at the Inter-departmental Administration Zone of the Multifunction Building. In the conference, Professor Tseng Yung-ping of National Chi Nan University and the adjunct consultant of Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky park acted as the moderator, with Deputy Magistrate Chen Cheng-sheng as the speaker. They exchanged ideas with the directors of the International Dark-Sky Association in the US and Japan via teleconferencing, sharing Taiwan’s experience in dark sky conservation in the context of promoting tourism. They also announced to the world that Taiwan has achieved brilliance in dark sky conservation. Now, the starry sky quality at Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky Park has reached the standard of Silver Grade. In the future, it will continue to promote the new business opportunities of dark sky tourism, constructing a new pollution free starry sky industry chain to allow Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky Park to become the landmark of starry sky travel and environmental conservation in Taiwan.

Deputy Magistrate Chen said that, since 2017 with the effort of the public sector, it had collaborated with the local organizations, academia and professional astronomical organizations, and Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky Park was found and certified by the International Dark-Sky Association in August 2019, becoming the third dark sky park in Asia. The Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky Park is approaching its 4th year, and the Nantou County Government has budgeted about NT$100 million to improve the roadside lighting and tourism facilities to conserve the starry sky resources as well as improve the quality of visitor services. It has also integrated the regional revitalization mechanism of Renai Township and conducted various projects with satisfying results, including the installation of about 600 lampshades on the streetlights, the promotion of starry night friendly stores and more. All these efforts reap significant benefits in the improvement of starry night quality.