64|A FONDO In parallel, the OPCC is promoting the creation of a new category for austral (or boreal) natural areas, which have extremely dark skies, although cloud coverage reduces their contemplation to only some nights. Nevertheless, when the night skies are clear, the scenarios are extremely beautiful. Artificial night lighting begins to esta- blish a footprint in the territory, which increasingly threatens the natural environment. The natural parks must be protected against light pollution coming from cities and industries, as a relevant portion of their wildlife is acti- ve by night and many species depend on dark nights. Just a small amount of light is enough to generate a negative environmental impact. Starlight Initia- tive, from Canary Island, is designed as an international action in defence of the values associated with the night sky and the general right to observe the stars, has created the Starlight Reserve concept to protect natural scenarios from the excess of light. A Starlight Reserve is a site where a commitment to defend the night sky quality and the access to starlight has been established. Its main function is to preserve the quality of the night sky and its associate values, whether they are cultural, scientific, astronomical, natural o landscape-related. Fray Jorge National Park Certification Fray Jorge National Park is a semi-de- sert area that lies in the Limari Pro- vince, Coquimbo Region in Northern Chile, near the Atacama Desert. It is a UNESCO Biosphere reserve, managed by CONAF, a governmental agency in charge of national parks. The park was evaluated during 2012 and 2013 according to the astronomical parameters of the Starlight Initia- tive, complying with cloud cove- rage, transparency (refers to how clear the sky is), seeing (refers to the relative stillness of the air, not to its clarity) and mainly night sky brightness for Reserves. As the area has little artificial illumination, it is not difficult to keep it dark. Even though, recommendations where provided to CONAF by the OPCC, mainly, the use of small amount of light, full cut off fixtures and a restricted spectral range of emission avoiding UV and IR, and restric- ting the blue part of the spectrum. With those astronomical values and protection measures to avoid light pollution, the Starlight Certification should be given soon. Pumalin Private Park: A New Possible Starlight Categoryí Pumalin Park, located in the Palena Province, in the Chilean Patagonia, is the largest private wilderness pro- tection initiative in the world, mainly formed by primeval rainforest. In 2005 Pumalin Park was declared a National Sanctuary. This special de- signation by the Chilean government grants the land protections to secure its ecological values and prevent deve- lopment. The Conservation Land Trust later donated the protected lands to Fundacion Pumalin, a Chilean nongo- vernmental organization. During the summer of 2013, OPCC measured night sky brightness in the Pichanco zone, which is located almost in the border of Pumalin Park and another park called Hornopiren, which is public. The values already obtai- ned were extremely dark, providing a marvellous scenario when there are no clouds. Based on those values, OPCC proposed the creation of this new ca- tegory to Starlight Initiative.■