World Conscious Declaration: in defense of the rights of Mother Earth, people and animals.
As conscious people of this planet, also known as Gaia, Bhumi, Pachamama, Mother Earth, we now call on every man, woman, boy and girl, as well as all the towns and villages of the world who are inspired by ecological movements that protect all living beings such as: “Todos a Tierra” in Colombia (led by native Ati Arhuaco Qigua), “AnimaNaturalis” around the world, The Spoon Revolution, protectors of Mother Earth such as Vandana Shiva (India) and ancestral authorities of different cultures, so that together we pause to think and reflect on what is happening on the planet and what consumerism is doing with our culture, the environment and with the identity of our people.
This is a call so that the Rights of Nature can finally be defended and presented properly in the local laws of each country, international treaties, agreements and pacts. It seems as though nature cannot speak; however, perhaps we should begin interpreting earthquakes, disasters, hurricanes and the various plagues and epidemics, and try to understand her.
Our mystical connection and communication with Mother Earth is gone because as time goes on people have become ill due to materialism, selfishness and hundreds of isms that have closed our eyes to the divine vision. Therefore, we must return to our ancestral beliefs and recognize that every entity such as the water, the sun, the earth, wind, animals, plants and rocks are living beings, and as such are entitled to natural rights before any legislation proposed by humans, because the universe is perfect and has its own laws and natural balance that cannot be ignored by its inhabitants.
The planet, as our ancestors knew it, is nothing but a myth, a legend, a beautiful fairy tale. Today humans have lost their faith and love for perceiving the world surrounding them. It is concerning to think about what future generations will inherit from us. It is possible that the sweet taste of a mango, the soft, cool breeze of the rivers, the determination of butterflies and other wonders that are still common to us, will also become a story of the past for future generations.
The absurd materialism and the wild modern consumerism are devastating culture, the Planet and ancestral traditions. This makes it very clear to see that mankind itself is becoming the main cause of the problem because he seizes and wastes valuable resources, destroying nature and its creatures.
Due to humankind’s excessive corruption, who plays God and believes to be omnipresent while performing genetic tests and cause irreversible damage, millions of gallons of water are being polluted with chemicals and countless acres of forest are cut down. The result of all of this is the greatest threat to the very life of man on the Planet, who with or without realizing it, is doing to Earth the equivalent to burning his own skin.
Forests help maintain the ecological balance and biodiversity, control erosion and influence weather variations and climate. They also supply rural communities of various products such as wood, food, fuel, feed, fiber or organic fertilizers. However, as a result of humankind’s exploitive behavior, the natural rhythm of life has changed completely, causing major climate changes that directly affect humanity. This is even reflected in the global economy or people’s life standards and expectancies. It is unreasonable to speak of ecology, while we continue destroying forests or killing animals.
To the problems generated by industrialized countries and multinationals we can add the various proposals of false solutions which are designed from a market’s point of view, markets such as biofuels, carbon sinks, hydroelectric dams or the so-called Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), as well as the latest proposals as mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). This is just the worsening of the climate change problem and a clear territorial colonization, because large companies gradually take over the right to use, handle and manage the water supply, biodiversity and the territories themselves, taking these resources away from the natives and leading to the deterioration of local communities.
We are experiencing the result of all these abuses today in the form of global warming, excessive pollution of the Earth, air and water, weakening health of the Earth and its inhabitants, because we are living in a production model based on unstoppable exploitation that is pillaging and plundering through large-scale mining, extraction of oil, coal or gas, water dams, the slaughtering of animals or industrialized agriculture based chemicals and transgenics.
Therefore, we demand:
- A binding commitment requiring developed countries to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 50% compared to 1990, excluding carbon markets or other diversion system that mask the failure thereof.
- That polluting countries be obligated to provide direct transfers of economic and technological resources to pay for the restoration and maintenance of forests and jungles, in favor of ancestral indigenous people, farmers and Afro-descendants, who might have been affected by their land’s exploitation and abuse.
- Stop local initiatives in forests and jungles linked to market mechanisms that propose false and conditioned results.
- That governments provide a global program to restore native forests and jungles, to be managed and administered by the people, supplying forest seeds, fruit and endemic flora.
- That each country carries out an agrarian reform in which there is a fair and conscious distribution of territory, especially in countries with agricultural potential such as most Latin American countries, in order to achieve a sustainable development system that fosters the welfare of future generations.
- A clear legislation is implemented in which moorland, forests, vital ecosystems, peasant afro-descendant indigenous reserve areas, bodies of water, are defined as protected areas and defended as such, government supported programs and mandatory mechanisms for these are created and implemented, not to be transgressed by multinational interests or any others.
- Promote the transition from extractive model to one based on principles of solidarity, justice, dignity, respect for life, reciprocity and fairness, recovering the Andean vision of water as a living being, the source of life, a generous gift from Pachamama, which therefore cannot be appropriated by anyone.
- For governments to implement state policies that preserve the natural heritage, forests and biodiversity, the balance of ecosystems, especially recognizing the rights of Mother Earth and the right to water as a basic human right.
- Promote the recovery of ancestral practices, along with new technologies, alternative and ancient, environmentally and socially just, that favor balance in human relations, honor agro ecological production, restore eco and nature friendly basic sanitation and proper waste management and disposal processes.
- Recognition and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples, peasants and small producers to their territories as the best guarantee for the preservation of water sources.
- That a constitution is created and put into effect locally, nationally and globally to advocate the rights of Nature, as well as criminalize any attempt by man or any activity that destroys the natural balance of the planet.
- That an International Court of Law be created to punish all environmental crimes.
- That multinational companies respect the local environmental protection laws and also invest in regeneration and damage mitigation, fairly in proportion to their earnings.
- Mother Earth to be recognized as a living entity, identifying it as a living entity with rights in the corresponding laws, assuming that these rights are inalienable and intangible, being the only means of hope and guarantee the existence of all living beings including humans.
- Support resistance struggles of the Mapuche, in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina, peasant Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST), the Peasant Organizations of Colombia, Paraguay’s Indigenous and rainforests of Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, and of all groups in the world who see their rights violated.
- All governments and the United Nations and other multinational organizations, to incorporate dialogs engaged on climate change, biodiversity and development, recognition of the rights of the sea, animals and nature, along with the gradual abandonment of extractive activities of crude oil and mining affecting these subjects and their rights.
- Support the Yasuní proposal – ITT leaving crude oil underground, as a form of respect for life, nature, plant and animal species, many of them endangered, and particularly uncontacted peoples, and Taromenane Tagaeris, currently being reflected and applied in Ecuador.
- To promote the transition to a vegetarian diet as an alternative lifestyle, validated against all damage to human health caused by the intake of meat and meat products, and the serious and horrible consequences of the livestock industry, which generates 18% of greenhouse gases in the world
- For governments to make the necessary changes in their legislation to eradicate violence, abuse and killing of animals as a form of entertainment, experimental practices and other, designed to meet the demand for clothing and everyday items.
- Abandon the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) and agro toxic crops such as toxic fertilizers and pesticides.
- Respect the use of medicines and ancestral practices of preventive and alternative medicine.
- Budgets granted only to those agro ecological projects, rural production and environmental care whose proposals free of transgenic or agrochemicals.
- Allocate funds to train peasants and farmers in organic farming systems.
- Introduce new concepts of ecology widely to care for Mother Earth, in the existing classes and courses implemented within the syllabi in institutions of primary, secondary and higher education.
We must open our eyes, raise consciousness and understand that we are all brothers, that our land is being exploited for the benefit of a few and every time we consume products of these multinationals we are killing our mother and our brothers. We summon and invite all artists, musicians, professionals, volunteers, environmentalists and all persons and organizations who want to raise their voice for the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves.
It’s time to stop thinking we have achieved independence and instead recognize that we are slaves to the system, that through the media, the mega drug production from Coca-Cola to the most technologically advanced psychoactive, intense production of transgenic agriculture, our ability to discern is being limited, making an illusion of expectations in life that is not part of our nature and that only create desolation, poverty, pain and ignorance.
We call to you today to sign with us and spread this commitment:
- Encouraging and spreading awareness about the production, distribution and consumption of organic products, free of blood, violence and GMO’s, pesticides and fertilizers that are harmful to the environment and humans.
- By participating, organizing and promoting ecological fairs, encouraging conscious consumption.
- Organizing awareness campaigns on the Rights of Nature, of the Indigenous Peoples, Water as a Human Right and respect for animals.
We strive to be consistent with this manifesto and stop taking all products from the industry that are: genetically modified, tested on animals, that impair the health of living beings, products generating deforestation, originating from monocultures or containing agro toxic agents, and generally those products that cause irreversible damage to ecosystems.
