International Mother Earth Day

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International Mother Earth Day

Caring for the Place We Inhabit

Gaia, Pachamama, Tonantzin, Jörd, Mother Goddess: these are some of the names by which we know Mother Earth in different eras and parts of the planet.

Many civilizations throughout history have venerated and paid tribute to the place they inhabit, since they regarded the Earth as a good mother who provides everything we have.

The mistaken idea that the Earth and everything it generates is an unlimited resource that can be exploited, used, and degraded for the benefit of humanity has given rise to a polluted planet, with altered climates and water cycles and damaged habitats, putting life as we know it at risk.

Economic interest has dominated the world agenda; the time has come to give greater weight to ecological interest and well-being. The Earth is crying out for it.

The defenders of the Earth have given it the character of a living being, of collective interest, that must be cared for and protected and that is interconnected with human well-being itself, since our survival depends on the health of ecosystems.

The rights of Mother Earth have been promoted relatively recently, recognizing the Earth as "a living system with rights," and when we speak of these, we also speak of the fundamental rights of human beings. We must adopt them as a common purpose of all the peoples and nations of the world, so that each of us who shares the planet is aware of it and responsible for it.

Understanding Mother Earth as "a unique, indivisible, self-regulating community of interrelated beings that sustains, contains and reproduces all beings" – Rio+20 Portal, it is given the character of a living being, together with all the forms of life that make it up.

In the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, promoted at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, the following ten rights were proposed:

Mother Earth and all beings of which she is composed have the following inherent rights:

The right to life and to exist;
The right to be respected;
The right to regenerate its bio-capacity and to continue its vital cycles and processes free from human disruptions;
The right to maintain its identity and integrity as a distinct, self-regulating and interrelated being;
The right to water as a source of life;
The right to clean air;
The right to integral health;
The right to be free from contamination, pollution and toxic or radioactive waste;
The right to not have its genetic structure modified or disrupted in a manner that threatens its integrity or vital and healthy functioning;
The right to full and prompt restoration for the violation of the rights recognized in this Declaration caused by human activities.

The obligations we human beings have to uphold these rights are:

To respect and promote them;
To ensure the well-being of ecosystems;
To restore the damage caused;
Not to intervene in self-restoration processes;
To establish precautionary measures and/or restrictions on human activities that affect the natural balance;
To empower peoples and institutions in the defense of Mother Earth, among others;

FIRM Actions for the Planet

Aguas Firmes is a project whose pillars are grounded in and interconnected with the care of Mother Earth, promoting within communities actions aimed not only at the regeneration and recharge of the Calera and Apan aquifers, but also at empowerment and awareness-raising on environmental matters and the care of water resources.

Some of the actions already implemented are:

693 hectares with modernized irrigation
2,412 hectares under conservation agriculture
30,398 meters of stone barriers
213,572 native plants reforested
141 training sessions for the community
Other works: gully head control, gabion dams, contour bunds, firebreaks, and conservation and cleanup brigades