The Ix Chel Tropical Research Foundation
non-profit foundation directed by Dr. Rosita Arvigo;
the foundation is named after the Mayan goddess of medicine. Located in Belize, a small
Central American country with nearly two-thirds of its tropical rainforests intact,
considered to be the heartland of the ancient Mayan civilization.
The mission of the Ix Chel foundation is two-fold: support
for the Belizian Traditional Healers, for preservation of their knowledge and promotion of
sustainable organic cultivation as a substitute for destruction and depletion of the
rainforest.
Research grants and the products sales from Rainforest Remedies directly
and substantially support Belizian Traditional Healers, and the foundation staff works to
salvage plants from areas scheduled for clearing. These rescued plants are then
transplanted to nurseries and farms for organic cultivation. The work of Ix Chel
foundation demonstrates to decision-makers that the rainforest is more valuable standing
than destroyed.
