Who we are
Positive Nature is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee set up by Laura Downer in 2019 after her journey through cancer in 2016. An informal network of associates will be developed over time to promote positive change.
Founder
Laura Downer
Laura grew up on a farm in Devon, where she inherited a deep love of nature and the outdoors from her father. She is passionate about nature, safeguarding cultural traditions and the value of positive intercultural dialogue and exchange.
Her journey through cancer treatment in 2016 kindled a wider interest in food and farming, the impact of toxins on health and the environment, and positive, sustainable living to combat climate change, protect biodiversity and promote well-being.
She worked for six years until recently in a multi-faceted role for TOFTigers, a charity with a mission to improve the ecological and economic sustainability of wildlife and wildlands in India and Nepal.
Her previous roles included Account Director for Strategic Sponsorship where she led the event and communications team for a government new environmental technologies and recycling programme in the 1990s to spread best practice. As Project and Sponsorship Director for Arts Worldwide, she worked closely with the Artistic Director on various projects, including the Festival of India’s South, launched at the British Museum and held in 22 venues across London, and the Yemeni Festival. Her projects for intercultural relations agency Visiting Arts included a conference for the 1998 ASEM2 Asia Europe summit’s cultural programme to encourage international working and exchange.
The highlight of her cancer treatment year was cycling 180 km over three days between two tiger reserves in rural India, raising funding for a Village Wildlife Guardians programme as a participant in TOFTigers’ first Bike4Tigers Challenge.