Let Nature Be Wild. Sign MAPS (the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary) Now.
The recent hair-raising incident of a sea lion playfully grabbing a little girl and dragging her into the water reminds us that we need to understand Nature, respect it, and give it space. That’s what MAPS (the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary) is all about.
The force of Nature is vast, powerful and wise beyond our limited human comprehension. When we forget the immensity of this force and try to contain it within our limits, we and nature suffer.
“We are in constant relationship with Nature, and Nature with us,” says Parvati.org founder and CEO Parvati Devi. “Healthy relationships are based on listening and respect, and become dysfunctional without this. Our collective relationship with the natural world suffers from this modern dysfunction.”
Parvati.org, an entirely volunteer-run organization, is actively working to establish the Arctic Ocean above the Arctic Circle as the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS).
The environmental leader Julia Butterfly Hill, who supports MAPS, echoes Parvati’s sentiments. “The natural world has been communicating with us since the beginning of time,” says Hill. “Sadly, most of us have forgotten how to listen. We have blinded our eyes by greed, closed off our hearts out of fear, and shut down our minds, choosing to believe that we are not all deeply interconnected with each other and with all of life. We are now seeing the impact of our disease of disconnect. And future generations’ lives depend on the courage of our care and commitment right now. The work of MAPS is an important part in the healing of our relationship to the oceans of life.”
MAPS establishes the Arctic Ocean north of the Arctic Circle as a permanent international marine protected area free from commercial fishing, natural resource exploitation, seismic testing, military activity and through shipping traffic. It compels a faster shift to renewable energy, protects existing polar ice (and endangered marine mammal populations there) and helps to stabilize the weather patterns that make our planet livable. MAPS will be the world’s largest marine park to date, a true nature sanctuary.
For thousands of years, the Arctic ice cap has reflected the sun’s rays, protecting humanity from an overheated earth. Protecting the Arctic Ocean helps us give back to Nature as well as ourselves. The whole world community must come together in support of the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary.
In 2015, Parvati.org created the international Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) Treaty, translated it into the six official UN languages, and distributed it to the heads of government of the 193 member nations of the UN for their formal endorsement. As the waters in the Arctic become navigable due to global warming, it is imperative that all countries of the world unite to declare that this vulnerable region and its wildlife will not be subjected to exploitation of any kind.
“Establishing MAPS creates an undisturbed space where wild animals can be wild and Nature can regain its equilibrium, which we have disturbed through acts of greed and ignorance,” says Parvati Devi. “It is essential to humanity that Nature is permitted to be Nature, wild, fierce and free – not subjected to human will.”
Citizens of all nations are urged to sign and share the MAPS petition at https://parvati.org, and to call on their governments to ratify the MAPS Treaty immediately.
