In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Resolution 63/278 establishing the International Mother Earth Day on April 22nd, a day of celebration, activities and reflections about the Earth which is our planet and the place where we live. That Resolution was introduced and promoted by the Plurinational State of Bolivia and was endorsed by over 50 member states.

Even though some people may think that establishing an International Day doesn?t make a real difference, it?s true that International Days encourage people, CSOs, NGOs and Governments to take action on specific issues. But, why it is called International Mother Earth Day? It could be called International Earth Day, but calling it Mother Earth Day gives a wider perspective of the same issue, which helps in the comprehension of the root causes of it, so actions of all stakeholders, public policies, etc. can have a better impact. That?s why it is very important to understand the meaning of Mother Earth. In the following lines we will try to describe the meaning of Mother Earth from the perspective of the Andean Cosmovision, which is the worldview of Indigenous Peoples that lived and live in the Andean Region.

The most common translation of Pachamama is Mother Earth. Pachamama is a Quechua and Aymara word, which are indigenous languages. It is formed by ?Pacha? that means earth, universe, time and space, world being earth usually atributed as its meaning and ?mama? meaning the mother who conceives and gives life.

Pachamama is all, as a whole. But we are not refering the whole as the sum of its parts, Pachamama is more than that. According to Andean worldview, Pachamama is present everywhere and everytime. If something affects one element of Pachamama, it affects the rest because elements are interdependent. It refers to a communitarian world where there is no exclusion, so everything (including human beings, plants, animals and even rocks) is important in an equal way nothing is more important than anything and everything has life.

In Andean cosmovisión, Pachamama is defined as a divinity, a goddess that protects and also provides, that gives fertility. Reciprocity is an important part of Andean worldview and it is expressed to the Mother Earth with an offering that people give to her. Another important practice of indigenous peoples is that they ask for permission in order to use wáter and land and the thanks they give to her. Furthermore, there is always present a fundamental characteristic of Andean worldview living in harmony with nature.

Those are some important aspects of Andean cosmovision related to Mother Earth that could help us understand the importance of the International Mother Earth Day and other paradigms about Mother Earth, other ways to conceive nature. Understanding the meaning and importance of Mother Earth can change minds, change actions and change the world.