Celebrate Mother Earth – April Special Messages 2022
Posted on April 4, 2022
Celebrate Mother Earth – April 2022 – with the First Nations Education Administrators Association
For Indigenous Peoples across Canada and internationally every day is Mother Earth Day. Indigenous gatherings are opened with words that honour and give gratitude to Mother Earth, water, sky and all her gifts. Indigenous Peoples have lived in harmony with Mother Earth since time immemorial. Our Knowledge Keepers and ancestors remind us that we are only as healthy as the environment, Mother Earth. Humans were given the responsibility of keeping the water, earth, and air pure. Celebrate Earth Day by speaking to parents, grandparents, and Knowledge Keepers about Our Mother the Earth.
So, take the month and every month to learn more about Mother Earth, the environment, water and air from your family, elders, and knowledge Keepers. Use social media, facetime, Zoom or other platforms to connect with family and grandparents, and Elders & Knowledge Keepers. Spring is coming, watch for the birds that arrive and how the animal and plant world adapt to changes in the weather and season. Watch Mother Earth’s renewal, get outside and be safe.
Books about Mother Earth:
Basil H. Johnston, Honour Earth Mother, 2003
Tara Perron, Animals of Turtle Island / Animals of Nimaamaa-aki (My Mother Earth), 2020.
Leah Marie Dorion, Strong Stories Métis: Poems to Honour Mother Earth, 2018.
Celestine Aleck, Strong Stories Coast Salish: Taking Care of Our Mother Earth, 2016.
Elaine McLeod, Lessons from Mother Earth, 2002.
International Mother Earth Day
Rooted in the decade that gave rise to the global environmental movement
The General Assembly designated 22 April as International Mother Earth Day through a resolution adopted in 2009. The original roots go back to the 1970s when environmental protection was not yet a priority of the national political agendas.
The UN Conference on the Human Environment 1972 in Stockholm marked the beginning of a global awareness of the interdependence between people, other living species and our planet, as well as the establishment of World Environment Day on 5 June and the UN Environment Programme.
In 1992, Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the Statement of principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests were adopted by more than 178 Governments at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, the first major conference in which Sustainable Development was the main issue discussed by member states.
From then on, all efforts to conserve the environment experienced an exponential growth: the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002; the declaration of 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth; the UN official Mother Earth Day Declaration; Rio+20 – resulting in a focused political outcome document, which contains clear and practical measures for implementing sustainable development – and recently, the Climate Action Summit 2019 and COP25, both focusing on the achievement of the Paris Agreement.
The United Nations celebrates this observance through the Harmony with Nature initiative, a platform for global sustainable development that celebrates annually an interactive dialogue on International Mother Earth Day. Topics include methods for promoting a holistic approach to harmony with nature, and an exchange of national experiences regarding criteria and indicators to measure sustainable development in harmony with nature.
Earth Summit and Indigenous Peoples
The Brundtland Report in 1987 Our Common Future stated, “To preserve biodiversity, we must turn to indigenous peoples for guidance and management”. (Book: Our Common Future, 1987, p. 12) The report was published leading up to the Earth Summit in 1992. Article 46 of the Our Common Future Report stated that Indigenous Peoples’ traditional lifestyle “can offer modern societies many lessons in the management of resources in complex forest, mountain, and dryland ecosystems. … they [Indigenous Peoples] should be given a decisive voice in formulating policies about resource development in their areas.” The Earth Summit was an opportunity for the world to link the health of the environment to economy.
References:
Brundtland, G. H., Khalid, M., Agnelli, S., Al-Athel, S., & Chidzero, B. J. N. Y. (1987). Our common future. New York, 8.
Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf
Rooted in the decade that gave rise to the global environmental movement
https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day/background#:~:text=The%20General%20Assembly%20designated%2022,of%20the%20national%20political%20agendas.
World Health Day
Celebrate World Health Day April 7, 2022
The World Health Organizations says that on World Health Day, 7 April 2021, we will be inviting you to join a new campaign to build a fairer, healthier world.
While the COVID-19 pandemic showed us the healing power of science it also highlighted the inequities in our world. The pandemic has revealed weaknesses in all areas of society and underlined the urgency of creating sustainable “well-being societies”, committed to achieving equitable health now and for future generations without breaching ecological limits. The present design of the economy leads to inequitable distribution of income, wealth and power, with too many people still living in poverty and instability. A well-being economy has human well-being, equity and ecological sustainability as its goals. These goals are translated into long-term investments, well-being budgets, social protection, legal and fiscal strategies. Breaking these cycles of destruction for the planet and human health requires legislative action, corporate reform and individuals to be supported and incentivized to make healthy choices.
Through the “Our planet, our health“ campaign, WHO will urge governments and the public to share stories of steps they are taking to protect the planet and their health and prioritize well-being societies.
For more information and events go to:
https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2022