Featured Cruelty-Free Charity: Naturaleza, Inc.

Published June 28, 2010 . Last Updated January 30, 2018.

Naturaleza, Inc. is a holistic health organization that advocates animal-free, natural, sustainable healing methods that preserve the environment’s botanical diversity and acknowledge indigenous traditions. With advisory committees of holistic physicians, ethnobotanists, ecologists, and indigenous people, Naturaleza was founded with a mission to “assist in the generation of fresh revenue streams for the continued preservation of our world’s natural places and the deep cultural traditions therein.”

Todd Pesek, M.D., the company’s president, is a holistic physician, ethnobotanist, and ecologist. He focuses on programs and policies that demonstrate social responsibility and environmental awareness while helping native peoples in the areas of health and wellness, agriculture, education, and cultural awareness.

Through Naturaleza’s La Sierra Tropical Research Facility and Clinic Initiative, the organization operates a research facility and medical clinic in southern Belize that supports visiting health-care professionals from all over the world. The clinic provides emergency and infectious-disease care and occupational and physical therapy to local populations and serves as a research center for tropical/wilderness medicine, epidemiology and infectious diseases, public health, and traditional healing methods.

Naturaleza works to develop sustainably harvested, fair-trade natural remedies and runs a traditional healing apprenticeship program. The charity focuses on a holistic approach to cultural health, ensuring that all its programs meet the needs of the indigenous people served.

For more information, visit NaturalezaFoundation.org.