TCL_2026CivicHubGrantee_Borderlands Restoration Network

GRANTEE STORY

Borderlands Restoration Network

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Healing ecosystems and communities

2026 Civic Hub grantee

Borderlands Restoration Network (BRN) works across the Southwest border region to heal ecosystems and communities through hands-on education, native plant programs, and watershed restoration. The organization serves rural communities shaped by the complexities of the border while addressing regional challenges like limited job opportunities, declining social services, rising housing costs, and limited access to fresh, healthy food.

Students of the Borderlands Field Course, organized by BRN, learn how to build rock structures for soil erosion control and water harvesting at Rancho El Nogalito, part of the Cuenca Los Ojos conservation project in Sonora, Mexico. These hands-on techniques help slow runoff, retain soil, and support vegetation growth, contributing to ecosystem restoration in the arid borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico.

A Civic Hub for local action

BRN brings together community members, private landowners, government agencies, and Tribal partners—including a notable collaboration with the San Carlos Apache Tribe—to build trust and take collective action across political and cultural divides heightened by border militarization and a nearby mining operation.

“Borderlands Restoration Network is deeply embedded in our border communities and works directly with people whose families and culture span national borders. Creating professional opportunities and education around caring for our shared natural landscape is common ground that can bring positive change, connection, and healing.”

—Rodrigo Sierra Corona, Executive Director
Borderlands Restoration Network (2026 Civic Hub grantee)

Community impact in practice

BRN’s flagship education program, Borderlands Earth Care Youth (BECY), inspires and trains the next generation of environmental stewards. The program hires culturally diverse youth from the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to restore the landscapes, watersheds, and communities they call home. Participants work alongside BRN experts and community partners in native plant restoration, erosion control, conservation, regenerative land management, and the arts. Since 2013, BECY has served more than 200 young people, equipping them with technical skills, training, and networks that prepare them to become active stewards of their communities and ecosystems.

Students of the Borderlands Field Course, an education initiative of BRN, attend inclusive birding training at San Bernardino Ranch, part of the Cuenca Los Ojos conservation project in southeastern Arizona. Inclusive birding ensures people of all backgrounds and abilities can join bird monitoring, strengthening community engagement in conservation. This Sky Island borderlands region is critical for protecting migratory corridors and regional biodiversity.
Students of the Borderlands Field Course, an education initiative of BRN, attend inclusive birding training at San Bernardino Ranch, part of the Cuenca Los Ojos conservation project in southeastern Arizona. Inclusive birding ensures people of all backgrounds and abilities can join bird monitoring, strengthening community engagement in conservation. This Sky Island borderlands region is critical for protecting migratory corridors and regional biodiversity.

The opportunities ahead

BRN will use Trust funding to develop more educational programs, skill-sharing workshops, staff training, and facility improvements that expand its capacity to host community events and hands-on conservation programs.

Photos courtesy of Borderlands Restoration Network.

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