Soon 51 municipalities will be labeled “Starred Towns and Villages”?

Applications for the "Cities and Starry Villages" label closed at the end of March for municipalities wishing to highlight their efforts to preserve the nighttime environment. The Park, which has mobilized to support local authorities in their efforts, is now taking stock.

For this 2024-2025 edition, 51 municipalities in the Park have finally submitted an applicationincluding 33 are candidates for initial certification and 14 to a label renewal, with the hope of increasing the number of stars obtained in the previous edition. 4 municipalities benefit from an identical renewal of their label. The 7 communities of communes of the territory are represented, the Community of Communes Pays de Nexon – Monts de Châlus having also submitted a “Starry Territory” application thanks to the participation of 13 of the 15 municipalities that make it up. This strong mobilization reflects the commitment of local authorities to the issues of light pollution and rewards the work carried out for several years by the Park on issues of the night-time environmentIt is also the result of the individual support offered by the Park to municipalities to complete application forms.

The participation of 51 municipalities in the competition made it possible to meet the eligibility criteria for submit a “Star Territory” application on a Park-wide scaleThis label requires that 2/3 of the municipalities representing 50% of the territory's population be labeled "Cities and Starry Villages". All applications for both labels are currently being analyzed by the ANPCEN*. The results are expected for the start of the school year in September 2.

* National Association for the Protection of the Night Sky and Environment