The Pax Natura Declaration

We, the people of the Earth, affirm the Universe is governed with precision and perfection by a system of natural laws set in motion to maintain order and sustain all living and non-living systems.

Over the long corridors of time, these laws have brought forth an astonishing diversity of life reflecting Natures beauty, creativity, and orderliness. This tapestry of diversity at the very heart of Nature is whole, indivisible, and manifests in the countless interconnections of each and every part.

Our human family is but one thread in this interwoven fabric and yet mirrors, as do all its parts, the grandeur of the Universe and the wisdom of its Creator. We have an inherent right and solemn responsibility to live peacefully not only with each other, but with every expression of Nature’s bounty in the eternal web of life. In the course of human existence it has now become necessary to humbly acknowledge the manifold abuse delivered by ourselves, and in our names, upon the very Nature that has created and sustained us throughout time.

We stand at a critical juncture in history. While wars have ravaged human civilization in the form of armed conflict between our fellow brothers and sisters, an undeclared war has also been raging against the natural world. This conflict, while complex and difficult to define, constitutes a far more insidious and dangerous threat to our long-term survival. Reports of new levels of destruction and decimation continue coming from front line ecologists, biologists, meteorologists, and concerned individuals from many different fields. The battle grounds in this war include the decline of clean air and water, the relentless restructuring of our atmosphere and climate, the clearing of the rainforests, the destruction of the coral reefs, the degradation of planting soils, the proliferation of unnatural monoculture agriculture, the random re-structure of Nature’s gene pool, and a host of other violent acts against our Mother earth.

The result of this assault is now self-evident with the tragic loss of bio-diversity and a general decline in the quality of life for all species, including our own. Violence against Nature is not new and is rooted in the philosophical belief that humans have sovereignty over living systems and that our existence is justified at the expense of a declining planet.

We reject this thesis and all of its ramifications. While acknowledging that all natural systems require energy and water for survival, and that competition for resources is a natural process in nature’s design, we hold this form of competition does not constitute an act of war. Rather, the conflict we speak of is an idea instilled in the hearts and minds of our youth for generations and manifests as separation, isolation, and alienation from the natural world.

We must cultivate in our children a deep and profound appreciation for the Nature that sustains them. It is time to begin healing centuries of conflict by re-defining our place in the web of life on earth. Ancient philosophical principles all proclaim and speak to the Oneness of the world. Experience and research from every corner of the globe has now demonstrated that these once abstract principles must now be understood in a practical way as the framework for the survival of all.

A Universal Declaration of Peace with Nature will mark the beginning of a new era of life on earth where human civilization is patterned on the eternal guiding principles of natural law, and the diversity of life is governed, without prejudice, from the unity and oneness of Nature. Therefore, we the undersigned, representing ourselves, our lands, and the best aspirations of all humankind, do hereby declare from this day forward, a state of perpetual Peace with Nature