Bolivia passes "Law of Mother Earth" which gives rights to our planet as a living system

The Law of Mother Earth ("Ley de Derechos de La Madre Tierra") holds the land as sacred and holds it as a living system with rights to be protected from exploitation, and creates 11 distinguished rights for the environment. It was passed by Bolivia's Plurinational Legislative Assembly. This 10 article law is derived from the first part of a longer draft bill, drafted and released by the Pact of Unity by November 2010. Can we please spread this law? There has to be a way for the free market to interoperate with reverence for this planet. Period.

In accordance with the philosophy of Pachamama, it states, "She is sacred, fertile and the source of life that feeds and cares for all living beings in her womb. She is in permanent balance, harmony and communication with the cosmos. She is comprised of all ecosystems and living beings, and their self-organisation."

"It makes world history. Earth is the mother of all," said Vice-President Alvaro García Linera. "It establishes a new relationship between man and nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration."

The law enumerates seven specific rights to which Mother Earth and her constituent life systems, including human communities, are entitled to:

1. To life: It is the right to the maintenance of the integrity of life systems and natural processes which sustain them, as well as the capacities and conditions for their renewal
2. To the Diversity of Life: It is the right to the preservation of the differentiation and variety of the beings that comprise Mother Earth, without being genetically altered, nor artificially modified in their structure, in such a manner that threatens their existence, functioning and future potential
3. To water: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of water to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components
4. To clean air: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of air to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components
5. To equilibrium: It is the right to maintenance or restoration of the inter-relation, interdependence, ability to complement and functionality of the components of Mother Earth, in a balanced manner for the continuation of its cycles and the renewal of its vital processes
6. To restoration: It is the right to the effective and opportune restoration of life systems affected by direct or indirect human activities
7. To live free of contamination: It is the right for preservation of Mother Earth and any of its components with regards to toxic and radioactive waste generated by human activities

Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_Rights_of_Mother_Earth
• http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/apr/10/bolivia-enshrines-natural-worlds-rights
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/13/bolivias-law-of-mother-earth_n_848966.html
• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/science/earth/14bolivia.html
• http://www.newser.com/story/116229/bolivia-to-give-nature-same-rights-as-humans.html

ORIGINAL: Minds

October 19, 2014

16-Year-Old Irish Girls Win Google Science Fair 2014 With World-Changing Crop Yield Breakthrough

Irish teenagers Ciara Judge, Émer Hickey and Sophie Healy-Thow, all 16, have won the Google Science Fair 2014. Their project, Combating the Global Food Crisis, aims to provide a solution to low crop yields by pairing a nitrogen-fixing bacteria that naturally occurs in the soil with cereal crops it does not normally associate with, such as barley and oats. The results were incredible: the girls found their test crops germinated in half the time and had a drymass yield up to 74 percent greater than usual.

All three girls love gardening. In 2011, at school, they were also studying the food crisis in the Horn of Africa and were thinking about ways they could help. One day Hickey pulled up some pea plants from her garden and brought them in to discuss strange nodules on the roots with the girls’ science teacher. Peas, like other leguminous plants, have a symbiotic relationship with diazatrophic rhizobia bacteria found in soil. This relationship leads to nitrogen fixing in the soil, which can reduce the need for added chemical fertilizers.

Related: 15-Year-Old Develops Flashlight Powered by Body Heat, Wins Top Prize in Google Science Fair

The girls decided to experiment with the effects of rhizobia on non-leguminous plants. After trialing over 10,000 barley and oat seeds, the results were astonishing. Two types of rhizobia in particular showed great potential for agricultural use. In their submission to the Fair the girls stated: “These results have significant potential for increasing yields of food crops and reducing losses due to adverse weather conditions. They also offer opportunities for reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture by reducing fertilizer usage. As demand for cereals increases with population growth, this discovery could act as a partial solution to the impending food poverty crisis. There is potential for future work in this area and we plan to investigate the biochemical mechanism involved and carry out more extensive field trials.”

The trio are not newcomers to scientific achievement. In 2013, they were awarded first place in a national science competition from a field of 2,000 entries. They then represented Ireland in the European Contest for Young Scientists in September 2013, where they also won first place. As the Grand Prize winners of the Google Science Fair 2014, Ciara, Émer and Sophie each receive a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands provided by National Geographic, a $50,000 scholarship from Google, a personalized LEGO prize provided by LEGO Education and the chance to participate in astronaut training at the Virgin Galactic Spaceport in the Mojave desert. You can sign up here to be notified when entries open for the Google Science Fair 2015.

ORIGINAL: Inhabitat

by Beverley Mitchell, 

09/25/14

Todmorden, el pueblo inglés auto-suficente alimentariamente.

En la ciudad de todmorden creen tener la fórmula para salvar el planeta.

En dos años, la localidad ha cambiado radicalmente la manera como produce sus alimentos y la forma en que sus residentes se preocupan del medio ambiente. Para 2018 esperan que la ciudad sea totalmente autosuficiente.

El pueblo más comestible del mundo. Uno llega en tren a Todmorden, y lo primero que encuentra nada más salir de la estación es un suculento mapa de todos los cultivos que hay a mano, “Help yourself!” (“¡Sírvase usted mismo!”).

Se plantan a discreción verduras, hierbas y árboles frutales en 70 espacios públicos. Se forma una red de 280 voluntarios que se turnan y se dedican dos mañanas al mes a cuidar de los cultivos. Y todo el mundo (incluidos los turistas) pueden servirse gratis y a placer cuando llega la hora de la cosecha.