“The Earth is autonomous. The Earth is savvy. The Earth is intelligent. It can't be considered something private.” – Aruák Kopenoty, Community Member, Terena, Brazil

Hello, I'm Aruák Kopenoty, I am from the Terena people. My territory is located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the municipality of Aquidauana, which is considered the Gateway to the Pantanal. There are several Indigenous territories, several Indigenous peoples.and our message, our concern is in relation to the environment. With Mother Nature. Mother Earth, our people and our territories as well. It's currently an area with the highest concentration of biodiversity. Of fauna, and flora and some of it is still intact. The Terena people, since their creation, were taught to live in harmony with the environment, with nature, and take enough for existence, for survival and contrary to what was taught by other societies, that the land was something to be dominated and explored.

Every time you explore, every time you dominate a being, talking about the environment, talking about the Earth as a living being, it causes transformations, changes and the extermination of something important for the existence of that being or for the existence of life. Human beings didn't realize this, didn't stop to think about it, didn't reflect on it in this sense that dominating, exploring is also an act of ambition. The Earth is autonomous, the Earth knows, the Earth is intelligent. The Earth has the flowering season, the harvest season, the fruiting season, and a season to renew the leaves. In short, Nature is this life itself. Nowadays, what's happening to the environment? These transformations, these evolutions, global evolution, is no longer global warming, it is global evolution, they are consequences of not living in harmony with Nature. The message from us Indigenous peoples is to be able to live in harmony with Nature, because we want to leave a clean society, a pure society for the next generations. And we have to do this while there is still time. This message is a healing message for the Earth, a healing message for the environment, and a healthy generation, that we are to leave behind, because as the Earth says, it cannot be considered private property. The Earth belongs to everyone, it's for everyone. So our message is to reflect and create an alternative way of life, preferably living in harmony with Nature.