The first inhabitants of the Mid Murray District were the Ngangurkau, Ngaiawang and Ngarkat people. The Ngaut Ngaut Conservation Park connects these communities and the stars are an integral part to their traditions
The mid Murray region is accredited by the International Dark-Sky Association as a dark sky reserve. This reserve is the first of its kind in Australia and only the 16th in the world.
The Dark Sky reserve is located 100 km from Adelaide. The centre of the reserve is in Swan Reach Conservation Park which contains 2000 hectares of Mallee bushland.
An International Dark Sky Reserve consists of a dark ‘core’ zone surrounded by a populated buffer zone where policy controls are used to protect the darkness of the core from light pollution.
The Bortle scale is a nine-level numeric scale that measures the night sky's brightness of a particular location. The reserve is 1 on the bortal scale.
It is so important to preserve our night skies from light pollution because it endangers ecosystems by harming those animals whose life cycles depend on the dark.
Our ancestors have always learnt, taught and connected with a night sky free of light pollution. It is so important to continue to connect with the the night sky that inspired science, religion, philosophy, art and literature now and in the future.