Special Light Hoods Installed at Parks to Help FirefliesPost date：2021-04-20
Updates：2021-04-20
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With firefly season reaching its peak around April and May every year, firefly spotting has become a popular nighttime activity in the urban setting. To minimize the impact of park lightings upon the firefly community, the Parks and Street Lights Office (PSLO) announced that it will take steps to adjust the illumination from street lights inside parks designated for habitat restoration.
According to the agency, approaches towards controlling illumination include turning off street lights, adding hoods, and installing firefly-friendly LEDs. Through these efforts, it hopes to raise public awareness on protecting and restoring the ecosystem of local parks.
PSLO pointed out that strong lights have a detrimental impact upon the firefly population. For the agency, in addition to switching off some of the street lights, it also installed various types of hoods, as well as filters to minimize the effect of strong illumination. The agency remarked that amber-color light sources with wavelength around 590 nm are visible to humans but not fireflies, which is ideal for placement around the habitat of these fragile insects.
Hoods have been installed for street lights at locations such as the surroundings of Tsuei Lake at Muzha Park, Daan Forest Park, Tiger Mountain Creek Hiking Trail, Zhongqiang Park, and section 3 of Zhinan Road. This year, PSLO is also adding additional hoods to the existing ones at Tsuei Park to enhance the effectiveness of firefly conservation efforts.
The agency calls upon visitors who wish to observe fireflies at night to equip their flashlights with red paper filters. Doing so will help protect these insects while still providing sufficient illumination in the darkness.
According to the agency, approaches towards controlling illumination include turning off street lights, adding hoods, and installing firefly-friendly LEDs. Through these efforts, it hopes to raise public awareness on protecting and restoring the ecosystem of local parks.
PSLO pointed out that strong lights have a detrimental impact upon the firefly population. For the agency, in addition to switching off some of the street lights, it also installed various types of hoods, as well as filters to minimize the effect of strong illumination. The agency remarked that amber-color light sources with wavelength around 590 nm are visible to humans but not fireflies, which is ideal for placement around the habitat of these fragile insects.
Hoods have been installed for street lights at locations such as the surroundings of Tsuei Lake at Muzha Park, Daan Forest Park, Tiger Mountain Creek Hiking Trail, Zhongqiang Park, and section 3 of Zhinan Road. This year, PSLO is also adding additional hoods to the existing ones at Tsuei Park to enhance the effectiveness of firefly conservation efforts.
The agency calls upon visitors who wish to observe fireflies at night to equip their flashlights with red paper filters. Doing so will help protect these insects while still providing sufficient illumination in the darkness.
