Tekapo's bid to become the world's first starlight heritage site has come another step closer with more support from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
A Unesco working party in Spain's Canary Islands has included the proposal for a Tekapo World Heritage night sky reserve as one of eight proposals it is investigating.
Tekapo is bidding for the status because of its unique night sky, unaffected by light spill, and the Mt John Observatory. If successful, it has the potential to attract even more tourists than it does already.
Former Cabinet minister Margaret Austin said the proponents of the Tekapo reserve would now seek New Zealand Government support to promote the proposal at a final Unesco working party meeting in October.
"This will be crucial and we need to make sure we get this right. We only get one chance at this," she said.
The final decision will be announced in Rio de Janeiro next year.
Mrs Austin is chairwoman of New Zealand's Starlight Reserve committee, which includes Professor John Hearnshaw, of Canterbury University, and Tekapo project proponent Graeme Murray.
Mrs Austin said half the world's population could not see the stars because of night sky light pollution.
Tekapo already has bylaws in place and monitors the effects of further development to ensure it does not impact on the uncorrupted night sky.
Mrs Austin said the Canaries Unesco meeting highlighted La Palma in Spain and Tekapo as the best night sky areas. Mt John Observatory - home to six telescopes including the country's biggest (1.8m in diameter and able to observe any of 50 million stars each clear night) - is considered one of the most accessible observatories in the world.
Mr Murray, a driving force behind the Tekapo project, said it would be a positive result for New Zealand and the Mackenzie district to have the Mt John observatory and the Lake Tekapo area confirmed as the world's first Starlight Reserve.
"Many places overseas have lost touch with stars in the sky, but the Mackenzie country still has a pristine dark sky and a park in the sky world reserve will ensure New Zealand is kept on the astronomy and astro-tourism map," he said.
