What is the ideal brightness of a light to ensure safety in a port setting, while keeping the impact on the Wadden Sea as small as possible? Currently, visitors to the Osthafen (Eastern Port) in Norddeich may form their own opinion during the ‘Walk of Light’ by Niedersachsen Ports (NPorts): As of late, four LEDs of varying warmths – ranging from 1800 to 3000 Kelvin – are brightening up the port entrance.
Protection of the Wadden Sea Region
“Generally, a color temperature of 3000 Kelvin is the lighting standard in our ports”, explains NPorts’ employee Ms. Denise Schablitzki, who is in charge of coordinating this project in Norddeich.
The only problem: Light pollution puts an increasing burden on the environment and animal biotopes. The constant development of infrastructures creates more and more artificial light, which in turn increasingly lights up the night sky and especially impairs the sensitive Wadden Sea region.
It is NPorts’ intention in conjunction with the project Darker Sky to streamline their lighting: “Here in Norddeich, we want to convert to a color temperature of 2700 Kelvin in order to reduce the impact of blue light on nature”, Ms. Schablitzki elaborates. This slightly warmer light will have a lower impact on the fauna than the glaring LED light. “Furthermore, suitable light angles will be devised to prevent a long dispersion of light into the atmosphere and into the water. In addition, proper shielding of the lamps will prevent upward light emissions”, her colleague Thole Saathoff further explains. The technical planning and implementation for the project is his responsibility.
NPorts planned this concept in collaboration with the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, the Wadden Sea National Park Administration of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), and the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. “We can’t wait to see, how the color temperatures will be received”, says Saathoff. Using an on-site QR code, visitors of the ‘Walk of Light’ can access the survey online and vote.
Background
Within the context of the sustainability activities of hafen+, the reconcilability of environmental protection and the port economy takes center stage for NPorts. The port company is part of a collaboration among Wadden Sea ports that – together with environmental associations and the maritime and port economy and within the framework of the 14th Trilateral Wadden Sea Conference 2022 – had agreed upon an initiative to promote sustainable maritime shipping and sustainable ports for the protection of the Wadden Sea. The Interreg project Darker Sky follows in the footsteps of these existing efforts. Interreg is an initiative of the European Union that promotes trans-border and pan-national projects.
Please find additional information about the project and the project partners here: Darker Sky.
Image Texts:
Welcome to the ‘Walk of Light’ by Niedersachsen Ports in Norddeich: The image depicts LEDs in the color temperatures 2200, 2700, and 3000 Kelvin (from front to back). (Photo: Burmann/NPorts)
Ms. Denise Schablitzki coordinates the project in Norddeich, Mr. Thole Saathoff is in charge of technical planning & implementation on site. (Photo: Burmann/NPorts)
