World Biodiversity Day: Earth Anthem by Indian poet-diplomat translated into 100 languages

The lines from the Earth Anthem written by Indian poet-diplomat Abhay Kumar, "United we stand as flora and fauna/ United we stand as species of one Earth", express solidarity with all the livings species on our planet and calls for protecting the rich biodiversity on Earth.

Credits: Pixabay

New Delhi: Earth Anthem penned originally in English by Indian poet-diplomat Abhay Kumar has been translated into 100 languages on World Biodiversity Day, May 22.

Abhay Kumar first wrote Earth Anthem while posted in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2008, and since then it has now been translated over 100 global languages and is read and performed across the globe to celebrate Earth Day and World Environment Day.

The lines from the Earth Anthem -- "United we stand as flora and fauna/ United we stand as species of one Earth", express solidarity with all the livings species on our planet and calls for protecting the rich biodiversity on Earth.

In this Earth Anthem, inspired by `Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam`, which means Earth is a family, calls for a deeper understanding of symbiosis and mutual interdependence between humans and other species that form the very basis of the existence of life on Earth.

Earth Anthem calls for unity of all the species on Earth and among all the people and all the nations to fight the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution.

It calls us to rise over our differences and unite to save our planet for future generations.

World Biodiversity Day is a United Nations-sanctioned international day for the promotion of biodiversity issues. It is currently celebrated on May 22.

From its creation by the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly in 1993 until 2000, it was celebrated on December 29 to commemorate the day of introduction of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Later, on December 20, 2000, the date was shifted to May 22 to mark the adoption of the Convention on May 22, 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit. The theme for this year`s biodiversity day is - `We are part of the solution #ForNature`.

Over a million species face extinction due to habitat loss, environmental pollution and climate change. Loss of biodiversity threatens the life-supporting systems on Earth.