A Finnish City Champions Pollinator-Friendly Streetlights

A Finnish city has introduced innovative streetlights designed to protect nocturnal pollinators, such as moths. These new lights feature a warmer color temperature that is less disruptive to insects, particularly moths, which are crucial for biodiversity and food production. The initiative aims to create a more pollinator-friendly urban environment, aligning with broader environmental goals. This development highlights the importance of integrating ecological considerations into urban planning. The project is part of a growing trend to enhance urban habitats for wildlife while addressing the challenges posed by artificial lighting.

The pollinator-safe streetlights in Lahti, Finland work through several key mechanisms:

1. Filtering out blue light: The streetlights automatically filter out light in the blue spectrum during nighttime. This is crucial because pollinators are especially attracted to blue light, which can disrupt their natural behaviors.
2. Warmer color temperature: By removing blue light, the streetlights emit a warmer color spectrum. This warmer light is less likely to be mistaken by pollinators for moonlight or starlight.
3. Automatic adjustment: The lights are designed to automatically adjust their spectrum as night falls, switching to the pollinator-friendly warmer light.
4. Strategic placement: The city installed 12 of these lights along a 500-meter footpath in a nature reserve area known to have high pollinator activity.
5. Light control: While not explicitly stated for these lights, smart streetlight systems often include features like motion sensors and remote control capabilities to dim or turn off lights when not needed.

The goal of these streetlights is to minimize disruption to nocturnal pollinators’ natural behaviors. By reducing the attraction of insects to artificial light, the streetlights allow pollinators to focus on their important work of nighttime pollination. This initiative is part of Lahti’s broader campaign to support pollinators and maintain ecological balance in urban environments.

More information is available here.

David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and President of Lighting Solution Development, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has co-chaired ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

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